It’s hard to slow down and stop preparing for life’s challenges.

Every day, after lunch, I leave the chapel basement, push open the heavy oak chapel doors, and mentally arm myself for the day at Duke. Checklists flash through my mind as I think about the things I should’ve said, the things I didn’t do, the things I need to do…

And then the day goes on, with my mental lists keeping me sharp and (mostly) on top of things. I walk from class to class, talking to one friend and then another, studying first for biology and then chemistry, and all of the sudden the day ends. As I fall asleep I say prayers for my friends and for my sister and for my mom and for whatever else is going on and then I wake up drag my feet out of bed and prepare to fight through another day.

It’s hectic.

I spend most of my time arming myself to fight through all of the challenges that life brings. But, in doing so, I often fail to take a step back, slow down, and enjoy all of the beautiful things God placed in this world.

 

One such beauty is this quote that I see as I exit those heavy wooden doors of the chapel basement:

They will beat their swords into plowshares

 and their spears into pruning hooks.

Advent is a time for reflection, rejoicing, and reconciliation. A time to set aside our mental weapons and use our minds to build community. A time to open our hearts and embrace things that make life wonderful and that bring people together.

Isn’t that what it means to walk into the light of the Lord?

JOHN BOOM ‘22