One of Advent’s big themes is waiting. Not the expected December waiting in cashier queue’s or mall parking-lot grid-lock. You think that’s bad, try waiting thousands of years for a slow-to-come King. The hoping and waiting in Advent is for a world that works, the realization that life as we know it is too much the same as it’s always been. Same hurts, same problems, same quick solutions that solve nothing. Advent’s waiting is the hoping for a real, lasting and comprehensive salvation that no politician, government program, level of education or self-help guru could ever provide.
On Sunday I heard John Mayer’s Waiting on the World to Change and thought it’s not a bad contemporary Advent hymn. It sings of a certain resignation with what is and yet voices the heart hopes and longings for a better world, all of which are part of Advent’s wish for a long-expected Savior.
You can check out a live version here (by the way, after you click on the link it will turn black but click a second time on the “Watch on You Tube” link and you’ll be redirected to the video):
Squinch 