I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in God’s word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning
more than those who watch for the morning.

—Psalm 130:5-6

It is the first week of Advent, this season of waiting and preparation for the birth of Christ. Each of the four weeks of Advent has a watchword. The word for this first week is wait.

Advent waiting occurs on two different levels. Certainly we wait for Christmas and the celebration of Christ’s birth in history past, but we also wait for the risen Christ to come again.

In fact, the Gospel passage for the first Sunday of Advent is not the story of Jesus’ birth, not the story of the Annunciation or of Mary’s response to the angel’s startling proclamation, nor the story of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem. Rather…

Read the rest over at A Deeper Church.