Skip to main content

A Christian Adventurer in Advent

Image
iPost Team,

Every year we anticipate, expect, and approach the four weeks before Christmas with the wholeness of memory that is past, experience that is in the present, and a hope that looks to the future.

Advent comes every year. Is it taken for granted? I do not think so. Like every other thing that happens once a year, it is expected, imagined, and welcomed. A typical example is a birthday. When your birthday comes, it is a day you remember and celebrate no matter how big or small the celebration is. It is momentous and symbolic. You cast your mind back to the birthdays of yesteryears, compare the previous with the now, and perhaps, imagine what the future birthday will be like.

Advent stands for the coming of something or someone important. In Christian tradition, it is the expectation and preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. It is also a time for dedicated prayers and spiritual preparations for the celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas. In Western Christianity, it marks the beginning of the liturgical year. 

Why do we have to expect, wait, and anticipate during Advent? It is all about the future. We do not wait for the past. It is gone. We do not expect it in the present. It is now. We expect someone or thing to be, to come, or to happen. It is all about the future. Advent cannot be in the past or present. We cannot live in the future now. We have left the past. We are in the present.

Writing about being in the present, imagine how you have changed since your last birthday. For better or for worse? You can separate your past from your now:

  • You have a new partner or lost one.
  • You have a baby or lost a dear one.
  • You gained weight, or you lost weight.
  • You have a new job, or you lost one.
  • You are a Christian, or you cease to be one.
  • You moved home, or you remain where you are.
  • You found love, or you resent everyone.

All you do is always in the present. From the present, you get to the future. From the known, you get to the unknown. You cannot get to the unknown from the unknown. This can never be realized. Nor can you get from the known to the known. This does not require any progression. The present is constant. It is stationary. The known does not change. Any changes are contained in the present. The known has no future; it is not in anticipation. The unknown is predictive. It is precarious. It is uncertain. It is full of risks.

Advent tells us about the future, the unknown, and the uncertain. It is uncertain in the sense that you, the adventurer is the candidate for uncertainty. Not Christmas or Christ’s Second Coming. Christmas is certain. Christ’s Second Coming is certain in the eyes of faith but you as an individual have not got the surety of seeing the Parousia. The risk associated with Advent is with the adventurer, the Christian adventurer.

Etymologically, Parousia means ‘being present’ but technically, it means for the Christians ‘the Second Coming.’ Aspiring for the future and hoping to see the Second Coming of Christ, your spiritual forecast may be exposed to some risks. It is a kind of spiritual risk. Who do you give your soul to? God or Mammon? It is a risk; if you give it to God then you must follow him all the way. If you give it to Mammon, then you cut ties with God. The irony of it all is that it is in the present that you decide whom to give your soul to before you can realize the happiness of the future. Your soul is given in the present, not in the past or the future. Parousia begins in the present from the known.  

So, Advent is a continuous reminder that we can only decide now about what we expect or anticipate in the future. We can wait for it in the present, not in the past. The past is gone, the future is far, but the present is here. To a Christian adventurer, Advent is the known unknown. Therefore, put your house together in faith, settle your spiritual debts, dust your cupboards of hateful mites, clear your soul of webs of envious thoughts, open your doors of goodwill, and sprinkle the shower of love. 

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Alternative Self (Part IV): Beyond the Mechanics of Substitution

iPost Team,
In Parts 1, 2, and 3 of The Self-Alternating Theory , we mapped the intricate mechanics of human positioning: how individuals continuously swap roles, situations, and existential stations within the architecture of society. We observed the relentless cycle of substitution: how power yields to vulnerability, how victims inherit the machinery of oppression, and how raw human drives alternate between expression and suppression. Yet, mapping the engine of alternation leaves a critical question unanswered: Are we permanently condemned to react to the swap, or can we consciously choose our orientation within it? This is where The Alternative Self emerges, not as a passive participant in life’s endless rotation, but as a deliberate act of internal sovereignty and transformation. Let’s break it down. Breaking the Compulsive Cycle Under the framework of The Self-Alternating Theory , human behaviour often appears deterministic. Bad leadership, tyranny, and destructive compulsions tend t...
Post a Comment
Continue reading »

Quietness, Provocation, and the Architecture of Human Presence: A Philosophical Dialogue and Leadership Insights

iPost Team,
Introduction Human communication is not a single channel but a spectrum. On one end are the gadflies : provocateurs who stir societies and individuals into reflection. On the other end are the taciturn and laconic : those who speak little, or speak briefly, yet whose presence can be unmistakably strong. Understanding these modes of expression is essential for leadership, collaboration, and human connection. Quietness is not absence. Brevity is not passivity. Provocation is not hostility. Each reveals a different way of engaging with the world. This essay explores their meanings, origins, relationships, and significance, culminating in a philosophical dialogue and leadership-focused interpretation. The Gadfly A gadfly is someone who persistently challenges, questions, or provokes others, especially authority. They disrupt complacency and force reflection. Etymologically, gadfly is: Old English gad - spike, goad Fly - the insect that irritates horses. Put...
Post a Comment
Continue reading »

The Kingdom of Prefixes: How Nigeria’s Obsession with Titles Masked Its Collapse

iPost Team,
In most parts of the world, a name is a simple personal identifier. In Nigeria, a name is an architectural foundation: a heavy, load-bearing beam designed to carry as many honorifics, academic credentials, religious distinctions, and chieftaincy tags as humanly possible.   Consider the average Nigerian signature line: His Excellency, Chief Barrister, Dr. John Doe - GCFR, SAN, OBE. Or perhaps: Reverend Evangelist Dr. Professor Jane Doe - Chartered. Walk into any corporate boardroom, church sanctuary, or local council office, and you will meet men and women whose titles take longer to pronounce than their actual names. We have created a society where a person is not simply an engineer, an imam, or a retired civil servant; they are Engr. Alhaji Chief Ret. MD CEO.   Nigeria is a country overrun by titles. Yet, in a tragic irony, as the prefix and suffix lists grow longer, our public standards grow shorter. The Satirical Circus of Everyday Salutations The obsession has bec...
Post a Comment
Continue reading »

The Akamba – Concept of the Supreme Being & Totems

iPost Team,
Table of Contents Supreme Being (Worships and Venerations) Mulungu   Mumbi  Mwatuangi  Ngai  Asa  Ancestors Totems Here is a brief account of the religious beliefs of the Akamba. Spanning through Central Bantu, the Akamba ethnic group is estimated to be about 4.4 million people and occupies Southeastern Kenya in areas, such as Kangundo, Kibwezi, Kitui, Machakos, Makueni and Mwingi Districts and the Ukamba. A swathe of the Akamba population can also be found in the Mazeras and Kwale Districts of the Coast Province in Shiba Hills. The Akamba languages are Kikamba and Swahili. Globally, the Akamba are not exclusively a Kenyan or African tribe. They can be found in Uganda, Tanzania, and Paraguay, which makes it partly an indigenous group and partly an autochthonal group. Argument from migration theory suggests that Akamba came from Kilimanjaro (a word that means ‘mountain of whiteness’), basing their arguments on the similarity of certain cultural features with the...
Post a Comment
Continue reading »

Anchored in the Storm: Living Authentic African Identity in the Age of Hyper-Modernity

iPost Team,
The Crisis of Belonging Modernity has unleashed a globalizing force that flattens cultural distinctions, replacing localized ancestral wisdom with uniform, hyper-consumerist ideals. For the contemporary African, this manifests as a profound existential tension: how to honour an inheritance built on community, moral dignity, and natural balance while living in a digital landscape driven by individualism, performative aesthetics, and immediate gratification. Living an authentic African identity today is not about escaping into a romanticized past. It is an intentional, daily practice of reclaiming internal autonomy in a world designed to erode it. Forces Assaulting Traditional Life To resist modern cultural pressures, one must first recognize how they systematically undermine traditional ways of living: Individualism vs. Ubuntu (I am because we are) Hyper-modern culture elevates the solitary ego. Success is measured by personal accumulation and self-promotion, directly contra...
Post a Comment
Continue reading »