I've been "doing Advent" for several weeks -- preaching, teaching, answering emails, posting comments on the website, leading workshops and Sunday school. Trying to unclutter my heart, despite having a bit too much to do.
The day I led an Advent retreat for colleagues at the General Board of Discipleship, I was sitting up front while my boss was introducing me. A photographer friend came up beside me and I moved back so she would have a better angle for her picture of my boss. In a few seconds, she moved. I moved back a bit farther. She moved again, and I moved back a few more inches. Finally, I looked at her and she mouthed to me, "I'm trying to get a picture of YOU." We both laughed. I stopped moving.
When I shared the story with a good friend of mine, she said, "I hope you are still backing up ten years from now." And I think that was the perfect metaphor for the writer, the servant, the person I want to be. In ten years -- or twenty years -- I hope I'm still backing up.
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