By Rob Des Cotes

Hope that is seen is no hope at all.
Who hopes for what he already has?
But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Romans 8:24-25

MY daughter and two sons, and many of their friends, seem to have developed a rather disconcerting approach to buying each other gifts at Christmas. They simply ask, text or twitter each other with the question, "So, what do you want me to get you this year?"

It makes shopping easy, but it also makes surprise impossible. Is this the way we want life to be - that predictable? Something precious is missing when we lose the element of surprise, or when we can no longer abide in the mystery of what we don't know.

As we enter the season of Advent, we are once again reminded of the perennial themes of hope and anticipation that prepare us for the 'surprise' of Christmas. But do we really live as though we were anticipating something unexpected? Or do we already know what we're getting for Christmas? Can we picture God's promises in our imagination? Is it something we've already seen in our theology, that we just repeat to ourselves again at this time of year?

If so, perhaps we have misunderstood something of the essential spirit of Advent. Advent is a time to anticipate the unimaginable realities that God has in store for us in Christ. When we open our presents on that glorious day we are sure to be as surprised as were the magi, the shepherds, Mary and Joseph at the totally unexpected ways God has gifted us.

At Advent, we prepare ourselves for the mystery of what is yet to be revealed - the surprises we weren't really expecting.

As our brother Paul tells us, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). In other words, "If you've already imagined it, that's probably not it."

Who would've foreseen that God would come to earth as a baby? Who could've had insight to pray that such a child would then grow up and die on a cross for our sins? Who ever expected the resurrection? Or who could've anticipated the surprising gift of Pentecost?

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This is the spirit of Advent - one which anticipates that there are still many more such mysteries to come. It invites us to assume a spiritual posture that is much more disposed to being surprised by God.

No mind has conceived nor imagined. Now is the time to form a relationship with the unexpected ways of God. It means learning to abide in mystery.

It is also an opportunity to deepen our relationship with all the undefined longings and hopes that murmur in our hearts. What exactly is it that we are yearning for in life?

What unforeseen realities do these groanings of the spirit foreshadow? Why aren't we able to put our finger on, nor even imagine the object of our deepest desires?

Such are the spiritual longings that belong to Advent. Like the prophetic Simeon - who, for decades, waited faithfully at the Temple for the consolation of Israel - we too, without ever knowing precisely what these yearnings indicate, can have a sustained faith orientation towards the mysterious groanings in our spirits.

We can embrace the realities of our deepest longings, long before the details of what we hope for emerge.

Though we can't fully imagine the object of our heart's truest desire, the faith of Advent will nevertheless anticipate, with patient certainty, the surprising ways that God will go about delivering the gifts he has promised.

Like young children, waiting to open their presents on Christmas morning, we too can glow with spiritual excitement, as we anticipate the day when all will be revealed. And we can be certain of this much: we will all be caught off guard when the Lord surprises us, with the unexpected things he has in store for those who await his blessings.

Rob Des Cotes is a spiritual director and pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He teaches Contemplative Traditions at Trinity Western University, as well as courses on spirituality and the arts at Carey Theological College and Columbia Bible College. Rob also directs Imago Dei (www.imagodeicommunity.ca) a network of faith communities that encourages the practice of prayer and a transforming relationship with God.

Image by Friedrich Peter, whose 'Celebrate' exhibit runs until December 14 at the Lookout Gallery, at Regent College, Vancouver.

December 18/2008