No Room at the Inner Inn
Written by: John O'Keefe
The Reverend Larry Gillick, S. J. was recently a guest on my podcast, Catholic Comments. I have known Larry for almost 20 years, but he continues to surprise me with the depth of his insight about life and human motivation. This conversation was no different. We talked about Advent, which – to paraphrase Larry — he called the season of making room for Christ.
Since my days as a theology student, I have generally thought of Advent as a season of waiting and expectation. There are good reasons to understand it this way. After all, we are waiting for the birth of the Lord with expectation. Also, the readings of the season point to the second coming and the general resurrection, for which we all wait, though with varying degrees of expectation. For me, thinking about Advent in this way had become so routine that the season had lost its ability to edge me toward any kind of spiritual insight during what might be called the American Season of Frenzy, which happens to correspond to the Christian Season of Advent.
During the interview, instead of pulling out the standard trope of “waiting,” Larry said that Advent was about making space for God. Think about it. If you are like me– and I know many people are not — Christmas preparations feel a bit like a pain in the ass. They come at a really bad time in the life of an educator. In late November and early December, the momentum of the semester builds toward a crest that crashes into final projects and exams. When these are finished, I have just enough time to grade them and then careen around the city Christmas shopping in crowded places (which I really do not enjoy). All of this combines to create a baseline of unease (at best) and annoyance (at worst).
So, lately, the approach of Advent has been a source of irritation because it means that once again the Season of Frenzy has descended upon me. In this state, I care little about waiting and am unmoved by apocalyptic promises of the second coming. Finish the exams, throw up the tree, get through it all so I can rest — this is my attitude on the days when I am most tired.
At the interview Larry compared bringing the Christmas tree into the house to the making space in our hearts for the arrival of Christ. Moving the furniture to accommodate the tree is analogous to clearing an inner space to accommodate the reception of the Lord. “But we don’t want to do it,” Larry said, “we resist.”
I resist. With Christmas approaching– as I write this it is just a few days away– I find myself, ignatian style, contemplating the innkeepers of ancient Bethlehem on the eve of the arrival of the Holy Family. Who can blame them for turning away Mary and Joseph and the unborn Christ. They were busy. They had businesses to run. Their inns well full. Besides, it was the freaking Government’s fault for imposing the stupid census that required people to travel to their ancestral village at a difficult time of year. Why should I bend over backwards for a couple of losers who left too late and did not make a reservation. Didn’t they watch the news for God’s sake. They deserve to sleep on the street because they are such poor planners. Joseph must be a pretty lousy husband — not very responsible.
Sometime I think that Ignatian contemplatios are a bit juvenile. I mean really, putting yourself in a Bible scene? Who does that in the twenty-first century except children and fundamentalists? But, when I do it, it almost always bears fruit.
I am — we are — so much like the innkeepers of Bethlehem when it comes to the spiritual life. During the last couple of weeks that have defined the season of Advent, I can see, in retrospect, times when the Lord was asking for a room and but the inner inn was closed. My reasons were pretty good, though. I had stuff to do, places to go, papers to grades, podcasts to produce, blogs to manage, a class to take, food to cook, people to form, children to raise. I was busy, and besides, God could wait because God always does.
As the Advent season winds down, I am finally ready for room-making and God is there waiting. God, of course, is undisturbed by having to wait, but I find myself wondering how much more graceful the last few weeks would have been if I had made room then.
Maybe next year I’ll do better.
Photo: “No Room at the Inn” by “Jrwooley6″ from Flickr (Used under Creative Commons license)
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Wow! That was a great article. There are so many of us Christians who forget to make room for Jesus during the Christmas season. I, too, will try much harder to make room for Jesus in my everyday life during this next year and through next Christmas.
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