Winter makes everything seem like a wilderness. Gardens are replaced by patches of cold, hard earth. One would never know that they had the potential to beg anything. Our lives are sometimes like that. There are times we look inside ourselves, through the eyes of winter's bleakness, and see a wilderness. But, in truth, the wilderness is not a wasteland. It is merely that place deep within us as yet untouched, uncultivated by our efforts to turn over the soil that would reveal the richness that lies beneath. During Advent a voce cries out that urges us to see past the cold earth, to deep within, and realize that we have potential...potential to grow and bear fruit. But, first, the soil of our lives needs to be turned over, converted, so that the seeds of our dreams and desires can come into reality. The potential is there, but there are still corners of that wilderness within that required more work. And so, we come to this season of Advent with a sense of humility and dependence on God. Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, "God does not call us to be successful. He calls us to be faithful." Fidelity requires patience, and the most difficult person to be patient with is ourselves...especially when we want to make changes. We want success, and we want it now. It is hard to accept the fact that growth is a lifelong process, and that we will be called to look into our lives again and again. But if we are faithful in trying to do just that, we will begin a chain reaction...a change reaction in the world around us. Even while our efforts might be for ourselves and our relationship with God, we affect others. The truth is, Advent t isn't just four weeks, it is every day. Every day we are called to prepare the ground of our being so that it will become the "good earth." We wait and we long, and yet we work as we long. We pay attention to our lived experience and, with God's grace, uncover the reign of God-----fashion it in the ways of God. So we carry our Advent thirst through the hope of Christmas and beyond. We are invited to touch lifelong desires, celebrate hopes fulfilled and live with promise in our hearts.