Energetic, exciting, bustling are some of the words commonly used to describe Trinidad – always in contrast to the serenity of Tobago.

In more recent times, however, it is probable that the vitality of our people is not what first impresses the visitor to Trinidad. What is immediately discernible is a frenzy of activity which often shows itself in undue haste and impatience on the road.

Maybe, if there was not such a crush of vehicles on the road, or if roadways and public transportation were adequate, people would not be seeking to propel themselves on the highways in the way they do now – whenever there is an opportunity to do so. 

But, the frenzy is not limited to the roads. How else to explain many of the killings that occur in our country except to see them as the result of fits of rage? Impatience is everywhere and may be an outgrowth of today’s instant culture. Can anything be done though about the frenzy, which will worsen as Christmas Day draws closer?

This weekend marks the start of the season of Advent – an important period in the Christian calendar which, if properly understood, could bring some steadiness to our way of life.

In Advent, the Church recalls the long period of waiting that preceded the coming of the Saviour and looks forward with expectancy to his second coming. So assured is it that he will come that it seeks now to live each moment in preparation for that glorious return. This knowledge ought to so touch the mind and behaviour of the believer that he or she lives with expectancy and true hope. Advent, therefore, is a timely grace.

Attentiveness and faithful service

Advent is also a cry of the heart: “When Lord will you come?” The longed-for deliverance of the people of the Old Testament is echoed in the present time: “How long do we have to bear this?”

It is a cry which even if made out of the depths of darkness and despair, the Lord hears – and so the believer waits. It is a hope in the future that darkness will not consume. Advent says evil does not have the final word.

It means too that nothing that takes place in our country – good and evil – is outside the purview of a God, who is Lord of creation and of history, and of the present and the future, and who desires only good for his people.

Advent speaks of keeping alive in the human heart the vision and the promise of what each individual and the nation can become. The indications of what is possible are already there among us.

In spite of the impatience we see so often on our roads, we have all experienced acts of restraint and extraordinary kindness. Even though we often see insensitivity and impatience in the society’s institutions and offices, we have all encountered times of attentiveness and faithful service.

 In the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus encourages his followers to stand firm amidst the disorder and confusion that is around them, neither giving up nor letting the darkness divert them from their hope for the future.

Advent invites us – knowing what we do know about the future – to live now as though it is already here.  Says St Paul this Sunday: “Make more and more progress in the kind of life that you are meant to live: the life that God wants” (1 Thessalonians 4:1).