Keep Watch This Advent

GEORGIA FOLK AND FARM LIFE - It’s the day after Pearl Harbor Day, and for the first time in many years I woke up surprised—and a little unsettled—that I hadn’t remembered the anniversary yesterday. I didn’t see any of the familiar photographs on social media, nor did I catch a mention on the news.

It’s been 30,682 days since the attack. Eighty-four years. But if you lost someone that morning, it may still feel like yesterday. Pearl Harbor was a jolt to America’s home front. A sailor I once interviewed on WarbirdRadio.com put it plainly: “We got caught flat-footed.” And even if our collective memory has grown blurry, that date should still stir something in us—a reminder to keep watch.

Keep watch not only against the dangers of a broken world, but—as we draw nearer to Christmas—keep watch for the return of Jesus. These dark days in history remind us how easily evil can fracture peace in the world around us. But Advent reminds us of something greater: Christ is coming again to set right everything evil ever tried to steal or break. Dates like December 7th, 9/11, and others etched into our national memory don’t speak only of hardship.

They also point us toward hope—the hope that this life is temporary and that our King is indeed returning, and this time, it won’t be in a manger.

So during this Advent season, hold the vigil with purpose and expectation. Keep watch. And today especially, let us remember all those who died in service to our nation—one nation, under God and indivisible.

~Matt Jolley