Do you want to know how to live better and longer? It could be as easy as having something to look forward. It’s true. Having something like Christmas to look forward to can actually help you live better and longer.
Let’s start with how looking forward to something like Christmas can help you live longer. A study was done in 2008 of 30 million people. This study found that it was very rare for people to die just before Christmas and that people were far more likely to live until just after Christmas. Why is that? Because Christmas gave them something to look forward to.
Now, let’s take a look at how having something to look forward to helps us with living better. Think back for a moment to the time in our lives when we were at our peak physically, mentally, and spiritually. When we look back at the time in our lives when we were in the best shape physically, it’s probably because we had something to look forward to or something we were preparing for, whether it be a race, a competition, a wedding, a reunion, or a beach vacation. When we have a race, a competition, a wedding, a reunion, or a beach vacation to look forward to, we tend to eat healthier and get more exercise so we can look and feel our best when it comes time for the big event we are looking forward to.
When we look back at the time in our lives when we were on top of our game mentally, it might have been because we were studying for our final exams. When we have a final exam, we tend to study more and become smarter.
What about spiritually? I remember when I was preparing to become ordained as a Deacon, my wife Julie said to me, I think you should go to confession before you get ordained so you can have a clean soul that is prepared to fully soak up all the grace God wants to fill you with at ordination. So, I went to confession to prepare spiritually for ordination, and I’m glad I did.
The truth is that we tend to up our game when we have something to look forward to. It’s amazing the tough situations we can make it through if we have something to look forward to. When we have something to look forward to, we likely face some tough times physically, mentally, or spiritually to get there. For example, maybe we get up early in the morning for a workout as part of our training routine for the big race or competition. Maybe we are staying up late studying for that final exam. Or maybe we are doing something else tough like confessing our sins to a priest so Jesus can wash us clean of our sins.
Advent is a lot like this. Advent includes a time of penance to help us prepare our souls to more fully welcome Jesus into our lives when we celebrate him coming into the world on Christmas. How we spend our Advent will determine whether we celebrate Christmas as just a holiday or if we celebrate Christmas as a holy day. If we spend these roughly next four weeks of Advent doing nothing but going to parties, decorating, baking cookies, buying presents, and trying to have others like us, we will experience Christmas like the rest of the secular world as just a holiday. But if we make room during our Advent for confession, more prayer, focusing on Jesus’ coming, and loving Jesus, we will have room in the inn of our hearts for Jesus and experience Christmas as it was intended to be experienced, as a holy day.
I mentioned earlier that a 2008 study found that it is common for people to live just after Christmas Day. If we knew that Jesus’ coming at Christmas was going to be the end of our lives here on earth, would we spend our days of Advent preparing differently? The truth is that all three of Jesus’ comings are meant to have us human beings experience a death to self in order to see him, embrace him, and love him fully.
When baby Jesus came, Mary and Joseph like all good parents were meant to experience a death to self by shifting their focus away from self-centered concerns and toward their child Jesus and what he wants. When Jesus comes for his second coming at the end of the world, we must be prepared to experience death so we may experience eternal life with him.
Between these two comings is where we find our present. As we begin Advent, we prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ, as a baby at Christmas, in his Second Coming at the end of the world, and for his coming today in the Eucharistic. We light the candle on the Advent wreath, we open the doors on our Advent calendar, and the doors of our hearts as a way of preparing for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. It is here we are meant to die to ourselves and our selfish desires so we may fully experience his coming into our world and our bodies today in the Eucharist so we may focus on what he wants for our lives, to be better and longer.
Advent is meant to help prepare us for life’s final exam. When it comes to life’s final exam, it’s going to be a history exam. Because all of our lives and all of human history is his-story (pointing to the cross). When Jesus looks back at your life, will he be able to see in your story his story? Fr. Henri Nouwen said “When you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you will recognize him at any moment of your life. Life is Advent; life is recognizing the coming of the Lord.”
Jesus tells us that every day of our lives here on earth we have something to look forward to when Jesus comes again. Jesus tells us that we have a reason to hope every day of our lives here on earth. If we are praying and looking for Jesus’ coming, the last day of our lives on earth will be a day of great joy. The coming of Jesus will be a day of joy for those who are faithful. By always trying to do God’s will in the present moment, whenever the end of our life here on earth comes, whether it be at Christmas, the end of the world, or somewhere between, we will be ready for the coming of the Lord. Compared to what we have experienced so far, the best is yet to come, because the life Jesus has to give us is a life that will be better and longer.