First Advent, II

There is a lot of wonderful material out there reflecting on these passages and the ideas of Jesus' second coming. As I read more and more, I am struck by the passages and commentators stress on the fact that the center of these stories is not fear and trembling in the face of judgement, but the certainty of God coming to redeem the world. We're not to hide and cringe, as did Adam and Eve when faced with God's judgement in the garden, but to lift up our heads. The emphasis is not on us at all, but on the faithfulness of God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer reflected on Advent as being like a prison cell: help comes from outside to open the door.
Then there's this wonderful story I have heard many times and choose to believe really happened. Over 200 years ago, the Connecticut House of Representatives was meeting one May morning when suddenly everything got very dark (an eclipse of the sun). Some of the men (and they were all men) started racing around, panicked, calling for prayer, believing this was the end of time. The very wise Speaker of the House, however, is quoted as saying something like this. "Either the Day of the Lord is approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause to adjourn. If it is, I, for one, choose to be found doing my duty. I therefore ask for candles to be brought."