While we were keeping our eighteen-month-old grandson for the weekend so his parents could catch up on their sleep, my wife Carolyn and I were talking about this sermon. I had the idea, but it lacked something. Carolyn had taken Benjamin upstairs for his nap. About fifteen minutes later, she came bursting into my study and said, "I've got it! Read this," and she thrust into my hand Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss. As she was reading this book to Benjamin, she came upon these words:

The Waiting Place
... for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come,
or the rain to go,
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or No....1

It is Advent, and we are people, pregnant. Pregnant and waiting. We long fo…