Return

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing . . . 

 - From Isaiah 35

The Third Sunday of Advent. It is a time of waiting, of patience, reflection, peace. We should be enjoying the time. 

I think I write about this every year, and I write about it throughout the year. 

Frankly, I get tired of people, good people, every December, getting sucked into the rat race of Christmas. Advent is supposed to be a period of waiting. Of lighting candles. Of temperance. 

But they get into their rush to decorate their homes. A lot of people have their houses decorated for Christmas by Thanksgiving Day. They support radio stations that begin playing Christmas music on November 1st. And then, on the 26th, they tear it all down and brag about "I'm so over the Christmas season!" And yet Christmas has only begun, on the 25th.

I did a thing when my nieces were little kids, where they got a different present on each "day of Christmas", starting twelve days before the 25th. I didn't know what I was doing. The wisdom of the ages made Christmas a twelve-day season beginning on the 25th. 

No wonder people are "over Christmas." They stress themselves by engorging in it when they should be fasting. 

I feel like I may get cranky during my second decade of Reflectionary. I'm tired of pointing out spiritual truths that get ignored by people that know better. I'm tired of clergy . . . clergy . . . throwing fuel on political partisan flames in our country. I'm tired of the lack of humility. I'm sick and tired of people not even admitting that humility is a good thing, as if to do so would lose them some advantage in debate. 

But in today's reading - - - there's a return. We return to Zion, or Home. 

Home is that place we long for; the innocence and purity of youth; or of the youth that should have been. Even if we come from rough backgrounds of want, still we understand the concept of home, of the return to something that we know was better, because it was safer, more cheerful, warmer, more nurturing. 

We understand this, no matter what our background is. Even people that never had it, get it. It's what drives their anger and passion to fight "injustice."

"Return" is a very, very good word. Come back again. Get back to where you once belonged. 

We have our boundaries we love to push. We engage in a lifelong vain pursuit of some feeling or impulse that might make us happy. We look high and low for it. We chase fantasies. 

But in the end, we just want to go home.