Fall in Love

by Fr. Eric Sundrup, SJ on Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent

One of the themes I’ve been preaching about this Advent is the concept of waiting. While advent is certainly a time of waiting, it’s not a passive waiting. Not in the least! Advent is about waiting for a new life, a new chapter in our salvation history. This type of waiting, like new life itself, is very active. Life reaches out; something that is alive reacts and responds, it is in relationship with its surroundings. These are the main themes I try to pull out when I talk about Advent and the birth of our savior. The mystery of the incarnation involves a God of action who reaches out, a God who dives in, a God who leaps into the mess of our world with reckless abandon.

I chose OneRepublic’s I Lived for this reflection because its pounding and visceral. It’s a reminder that the waiting of Advent is an active and alive. Most of my best friends can predict when I’ll like a pop song. Just give me a bass drum pumping out a quick heartbeat and throw in a harmonized a cappella riff we can all join in and I’m pretty much sold. There is a reason it catches our attention, that heart beat reminds us that we’re alive. And whether you’ll admit it out loud or not, who doesn’t need to let loose every now and then? It reminds us of the unpredictability and the power of life. Even the most reserved person could probably use a little taste of letting go, shouting out at the sky, letting the world know that we are here. We need to reach out, we need to throw ourselves out there into the world and say I’m here, lets dance.

But that’s not the whole story. The sad truth is that our world is not perfect. Reckless abandon and vulnerability can get us hurt. Life will hurt.

Hope that you fall in love

And it hurts so bad

The only way you can know

Is give it all you have.

I don’t know of any better way to talk about the mystery of the incarnation. God is in love with us and we know where the Christmas story is headed… Calvary. There is pain in the middle, but there is also joy and life at the end.  And Advent is about waiting to celebrate that joy of new life, even knowing that it will bring with it some pain.

If we follow the example of Jesus we will fall in love. And if we fall in love, we are likely to get hurt. Even knowing that love will hurt, it sure beats the option of a life not fully lived. And while some might call it reckless, I hope that you fall in love and it hurts so bad. The only way you can know is give it all you have.

Questions for Reflection:

Are you afraid of being hurt? Can you imagine yourself talking to God about those fears?  How does God respond?

What do you love?  What things get you excited? How can you share that excitement this Advent?

-Fr. Eric Sundrup, SJ is a Campus Minister at St. Mary Student Parish.