Celebrating Advent

While living in Evanston, I worked the opening shift at a coffee shop with Leah. Almost every Thursday and Friday, this holy experience began with our trying out the first pull of espresso. When it was perfect, we would both nod our head in agreement and high-five. We both loved to pay special attention to our very first customers: butchers from the meat department at Whole Foods, who weren’t the most jovial gentlemen before 6 a.m. After they got their coffee, though, it was like a light bulb turned on in their souls. I know it sounds weird, but helping to make these guys morning a little better brought Leah and me a great deal of satisfaction.

One thing I loved on early mornings at the coffee shop, was hearing Leah sing the Shema while she was cleaning dishes. Mind you, I don’t know if she knew I liked this, nor do I know if she was aware that I understood what she was singing (Thanks, seminary!)

Leah was the president of the Hillel Jewish Student Center at Northwestern. She had plans to attend rabbinic school, and we had some really interesting conversation about God. She, from the Bronx, and I, a Christian from Texas, spent countless mornings asking questions and listening to each other’s stories. But, for some reason, we never really talked about her singing the Shema.

Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Ehad.

She sang it softly and repeated it multiple times. It translates to, “Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is One.” How interesting it is that the first word of the shema is “hear.” The book of Deuteronomy states that this prayer should be spoken “when you lie down, and when your rise up.” So, Leah’s singing it in the morning seemed to make sense. I learned later, however, that it doesn’t just have to do with our sleep cycles. Rising up and lying down are also metaphors for birth and death.

I wonder, how many of the disciples caught Jesus humming those words as he walked through life. He had to have known the Shema as rabbi, learning it as a child through his parents and teachers. All the while, those first words he would utter, “Hear, O Israel.” Some would believe his message, but all could hear his words.

That’s my hope every day during this season of Advent. When I doubt, or forget, or get off track, or turn my attention to something else: I still try to be attuned. I still try to hear The Word all around me. The good news is God, like Leah, sings to us when we rise and when we sleep. We just have be close enough to listen.

Advent Blessings,

Rev. Michael Jarboe | Senior Associate Pastor