Returning late Friday afternoon from a mission of mercy, I heard a most troubling sound.
After punching the button on my garage-door remote, there was a “clank!” and a “pop!” instead of the more familiar (and much more useful) squeaking and grinding of torsion springs twisting and the lift-chain lifting.
Alas, our trusty mechanism seemed to have decided to take the evening off. And what the heck – why not the whole weekend? The whole Long Holiday Weekend…
Now, sure…there may be guys around who’d take a look at the crippled LiftMaster, grab a few tools, and see if they could get the thing working again. But I ain’t one of those guys.
Hmmm…is the lift-chain supposed to be hanging THAT low, I wonder?
I’m also way too parsimonious to even consider paying Holiday Weekend Emergency Rates to get the blasted thing fixed on Christmas Eve. So the garage door shall remain closed until Tuesday at the earliest – with one car in, and one car out. Not a crisis, to be sure. But certainly an annoyance – just the thing to put one in the Christmas mood.
Only, it’s not quite Christmas, is it?
It’s still the Fourth Week of Advent, at least for a few hours of Sunday-the-24th this year. And so it’s utterly fitting for there to be something in our hearts that feels like it’s on the outside, waiting to get in.
And if we listen intently to the words of scripture we’ll hear this morning, we will detect a human yearning that stretches back thousands of years. It was there in King David’s heart, himself wrestling with the notion of taking on a fix-it job:
When King David was settled in his palace…he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God dwells in a tent!”
And in the gospel reading, we hear that even our mother Mary found herself momentarily disconcerted by an unexpected sound:
But she was greatly troubled at what was said [by Gabriel] and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
So given all that, I’m thinking there is perhaps spiritual treasure to be mined in situations or circumstances that don’t quite go according to our well-orchestrated Holiday Plans.
If the Spirit asks us to pause – even during this very brief Fourth Week of Advent – we just might want to take note. We might want to check whether any doors remain closed in our minds and hearts – and then resolve to open up, and allow the Mighty One to enter in.
Perhaps this car isn’t the only thing in my life that remains on the outside, looking in.
O Wisdom,
Lord and Ruler,
Root of Jesse,
Key of David,
Rising Sun,
King of the Nations,
Emmanuel.
Come, Lord Jesus!
Let us pause now…to recall that we are in the presence of the Holy & Merciful One.
IHS
With Us Still 
How many men does it take to raise a broken garage door? 3 if you’re young. 12 if it’s a bunch of guys in the golf league.
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You’re right, Tom. It’s a young man’s task. But we are blessed to know a few Golfing Dudes who are actually quite helpful when it comes to solving such dilemmas…Jim L., Mike G., Art B….can you get an Old Dude a special rate for holiday weekend repairs? 😝😇
I just went through the same thing…it all worked out. Happy Christmas !
And a Merry Christmas to you too, Mary! Glad to know things “opened up” for you at your place! 😇
Beautiful reflection for this Sunday morning. Merry Christmas to you!
Thanks, Steve…and to you and yours as well! Let us all prepare to let Holy One enter in!
John, you know you can pull that red handle and it will allow you to raise and lower the door manually, surely even a novice could do this. Merry Christmas !
Yes, Joe…I know. But that’s way too much work for Christmas Eve, don’t you think? 😇 Better to just spend my time counting my abundant blessings…and maybe squeeze in a blog post or two…🧑🎄