FIRST WEEK OF  ADVENT

First Sunday of Advent

It was the morning of Christmas eve. A young soldier found himself in a terrible battle during the Scottish Reformation.

The enemy was soundly defeating this young man’s army. He and his comrades found themselves hastily retreating from the battle field in defeat, running away in fear of their very lives. The enemy gave chase.

This young man ran hard and fast, full of fear and desperation and he soon found himself cut off from his comrades in arms.

He eventually came upon a rocky ledge containing a cave. Knowing the enemy was close behind, and that he was exhausted from the chase, he chose to hide in the cave.

He sat down in the bleak darkness and began to cry. He had had only one wish. He had desperately hoped to spend Christmas with his family. Now here he was hiding out for his life. Far from spending Christmas with his family, he might not even live to see this Christmas.

As the young soldier continued to think about Christmas, he began to pray to the Infant Jesus who had to flee with his parents from Herod’s army just as he was fleeing and hiding from his enemy. He promised the Infant Jesus that if he saved him from death, he would devote his life to him.    

When he looked up from his despairing plea for help, he saw a spider beginning to weave its web at the entrance to the cave. As he watched the delicate threads being slowly drawn across the mouth of the cave, the young soldier pondered its irony. He thought, “I asked the Infant Jesus for protection and deliverance, and he sent me a spider. How can a spider save me?”    

His heart was hardened, knowing the enemy would soon discover his hiding place and kill him.

And soon he did hear the sound of his enemies, who were now scouring the area looking for those in hiding. One soldier with a gun slowly walked up to the cave’s entrance. The young soldier inside crouched in fear in the darkness.    

As the enemy cautiously moved forward to enter the cave, he came upon the spider’s web, which by now was completely strung across the opening. He backed away and called out to a comrade, “There can’t be anyone in here. They would have had to break this spider’s web to enter the cave. Let’s move on.”

Although the young soldier was not able to celebrate Christmas with his family, he did live to welcome that Christmas day.

Years later, this young man made good his promise by becoming a preacher and evangelist. The theme of his preaching was this: “When we trust in God,  a spider’s web is like a stone wall. When we don’t trust in God, a stone wall is like a spider’s web.”

As you gaze at the statue of the Infant Jesus and the infinite love it symbolizes, that God so loved you all and individually that he sent his only son, can you feel anything but trust?

Don’t our Christmas carols imply trust? Silent Night, Away in the Manger, Joy to the World, Good King Wencelaus.

As a preparation for Christmas, why not take some of these carols and ponder how they engender trust?          

            At Christmas you look at the little babe who is God trusting himself to the care of the two people he created, Mary and Joseph.

Doesn’t Christmas invite you to total, absolute, unconditional trust no matter what crosses of suffering, disappointment, sadness, depression, anguish or helplessness you had to bear during this past year?

Without trust our hearts will be painfully empty of love.

The challenge is to trust what someone else is doing even if you don’t understand it.

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