[Traveler enters with suitcase] Oh no! Look at those lines at security! Why is it every time I’m running late at the airport the security lines are out the door?? TSA must have been designed to prove Murphy was an optimist!!
Do you suppose these security people can move any slower? I’ll never make it to my gate on time.
Just look at all those people! All those families with kids! They’ll take forever to get through the line. And that couple over there with the deer in the headlights look. They don’t have a clue how to manage this system. You have to take off your jacket, your belt, your shoes, and get everything out of your pockets. Even a quarter may set off the metal detector! Put away my cell phone, no, can’t do that yet my boarding pass is on my phone. And if you’ve got an artificial joint you get a free pat down.
Stupid terrorists. We didn’t have to do all this stuff before 9/11. It wouldn’t be so bad to wait if it made me feel safe and secure, but it doesn’t. We’re vulnerable anywhere. Look at what happened just this week at Ohio State!
[Sits on suit case]
OK Steve, calm down. Breathe. I know it’s not all about me. All those other passengers—they’re all trying to get somewhere just like I am. They aren’t here just to aggravate me. And the TSA folks are doing their very difficult job the best they can. I’m sure they aren’t getting paid enough to put up with grumpy travelers like me. And I’ll even bet a little respect and being nice to them gets me through faster than complaining!
It helps if I don’t just see the crowd but see other people like me. Look at that poor mother traveling with two little kids. She’s probably trying to get home for Christmas or maybe to see a sick relative or bury a loved one. And those soldiers are likely being deployed to somewhere dangerous far away from their families for the holidays.
Sure, waiting a few minutes is inconvenient, but we’re all in the same boat. I’m old enough I remember a time when it wasn’t like this. We could walk leisurely to the gate and other people could go with you to say goodbye. How long do you suppose we will have to wait till the world is peaceful enough that we can do that again, till we just learn to get along as friends and neighbors? I wonder how long. [Exits]
Lighting the Advent Candle:
As usual, the second Sunday of Advent comes as we enter the final month of our calendar year, but 2016 has been far from ordinary. The long, long campaign season is finally over, but the political and social strife continues unabated. We are promised security and peace from all sides, but we are still waiting for those promises to be fulfilled. And so we wait for God’s light to break into the darkness just as it did so long ago in another time torn by strife and oppression. Today we light a second candle, the candle of peace, to witness to the world that the light is still growing in all of us who dare to wait and hope and believe. Together our lights can make a difference, and in due time our waiting will be rewarded with the peace that passes all understanding.
Prayer:
O God, waiting is so hard. We read the words of Scripture from centuries ago that promise peace, and we start celebrating Christmas earlier every year desperately hoping that this is finally the year. We long for true peace but often settle for false security that doesn’t satisfy the yearning in our hearts. We take our shoes off at airports and go through metal detectors; security cameras record our activities all over town, and we install security systems at home. Our military is the mightiest ever known in the world. And yet people carry guns and pepper spray, and we lock down our schools on a regular basis. Even police officers are not safe from senseless acts of violence. Enlighten us O God to the ways of the Prince of Peace. Teach us again that we will not find true peace until our hearts find rest in you. Remind us that your eternal peace does not come with “swords loud clashing or roll of stirring drums, but with deeds of love and mercy.” Remind us again in the small glimmer of these candles that the light still shines in the darkness, and the darkness will never overcome it. We wait and pray in the name of the Prince of Peace, Amen.
Peacefully Harsh 