Looking Past the Leaves This Advent

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Early Fall is delightfully deceiving. The golden light and turning leaves are signs of things to come. They promise apple picking, hikes, and cool nights by the bonfire. They promise joy just on the horizon. But the anticipation is always better than the fruition. And once they’re had they flee. By December we’re left wondering where the leaves (and the time) went.

Advent is well-timed with the changing of the seasons. Like the fading leaves with their empty promises, Advent is a stirring reminder that the Kingdom of God is already and not yet. Just last Sunday we sang the praises of Christ the King, in all his conquest and glory. Christ has come, yet now we wait. His kingdom is not of this world nor a memory of it. While Advent can be a time of sweet sentiment, this season’s readings point us forward to what is yet to come. To remind us that, like the golden light of Fall, this world is passing away. “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy,” Christ tells his disciples, lest “that day catch you by surprise” (Luke 21:34–35).

Gone is the excitement of all that we wished we’d done. Gone nostalgic promise. October is over and November has come and gone. Sure, the maples are having their day with their late-changing reds and golds—but we won’t be fooled again. The first Gospel of Advent tells us to read the signs, to look at what tells us of the coming of Christ. Like December’s greyed skies and bleached-brown leaves, these signs tell us it’s the beginning of the end. No more golden light. Look forward, past the horizon, to a joy and Spring that will not end. Christ alone, for whom we continue to long. Christ who has come yet keeps us waiting. Christ who has promised he will come again “in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luke 21:27). Look past the leaves and don’t miss it.

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Republished with gracious permission from Dominicana (December 2024).

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Photo by Nick Buckner (used with permission)

Br. Augustine Mary Buckner entered the Order of Preachers in 2021. He is a graduate of George Mason University, where he studied economics and political philosophy. Before entering, he worked at The Trinity Forum in Washington, D.C.