A Lump in the Throat

Frederick Buechner writes in The Alphabet of Grace: “Religions start, as Frost said poems do, with a lump in the throat, to put it mildly, or with the bush going up in flames, the rain of flowers, the dove coming down out of the sky.” Does Advent similarly start with “a lump in the throat”? On the very first day of Advent we pray in the Collect for “the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ.” There it is again—another liturgical year, another chance to meet Christ anew, another lump in the throat stuck there by humble awe, blessed anticipation, and awareness that we still haven’t awakened to all that we are meant to be. So let’s heed St. Paul’s admonition to the Romans (13:11f) to “throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Stay awake! Be alert! The bush may go up in flames, clouds may rain flowers, and God himself may drop “dovingly” upon the earth.