Advent in Your Everyday: Day #3

Today's Photo: "Until Next Year"

John the Baptist is an interesting fellow. During Advent, he tends to pop into our consciousness more frequently. The Gospel of Luke shares the story of his birth – my goodness, he sure was a surprise baby! Check out Luke 1 for the full story.

Here's a summary: Zechariah is the father of John, and Elizabeth is his mother. Zechariah is a priest and he’s doing a little praying in the sanctuary when *KA-POW* – angel time. A messenger of God shows up and tells Zechariah that him and Elizabeth (both quite advanced in age) are going to have a little boy! Zechariah, aware of the fact that they are a bit too old for babies, says to the angel, “How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.”

The angel, dear Gabriel, seems a bit annoyed. He basically says, “Hello! God sent me here to tell you! That’s how you know. Now, you’re in a bit of trouble for not believing me! So you’re going to be unable to speak until the baby is born.” And that’s exactly what happens. Zechariah doesn’t speak again until John is born.

I’ve never had a face-to-face encounter with Gabriel. I would suppose most of us haven’t ever had a vision of one of God’s angelic messengers. However, I’m quite sure many of us have had face-to-face encounters with God in other forms. Generally, I unknowingly pass right by them.

Even though Gabriel intimidates me with his straightforwardness, I like the idea of heavenly interventions. I am intrigued by the notion of some being who randomly shows up to say, “Wake up! God is right in front of you! And you better just trust me that this is really happening!” The season of Advent is a sort of heavenly intervention. A time to wake up. A time to recognize – God is right here.