Ah, Advent!

December 2, 2012
Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. Mark 13:33

I love Advent. The music. The colors. The wreaths, and calendars, and creches. The "permission" to check-out of America's December busyness. And, most importantly, the feeling that something special is about to happen. The experience of Advent waiting certainly changes as we age; but while our eagerness is no longer for Santa's arrival, that same sense of I-can't-stand-the-wait anticipation is an ideal mindset for this season. Many graces contribute to that child-like euphoria; for me, patient attention is key.

I've walked past many a deer out here that were just about to cross a path or road... until I showed up. Instead of darting out, they freeze-sometimes with members of their group split between two sides of the path. I'm never quite sure what to do myself. The times I've stopped to let them pass have been telling: they stay frozen. They're waiting for me to move on. And so I do, once I get the message. After I've reached a safe distance, they rejoin their friends waiting patiently on the other side of the path and together continue on their way. But they will wait it out as long as necessary. They seem much more concerned about preserving life than rushing through it.

Their alertness is also quite remarkable. I watch from inside my hermitage in the mornings as the deer rummage for food among the sand and brush. As I reach for my camera in utter silence at least one lifts its head on alert. It spots me- from 20 feet beyond my window- and stares. They never fail to spot me. They appear to be in states of constant attention to their surroundings- again, aware, I suspect, of the fragility of their lives.

I think I've heard a variety of "stupid deer" references in my day. In fact, there's a whole series of YouTube videos under that theme. Well, the Crestone deer have acquired some sense about living that the rest of us require a lifetime to figure out.