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I remember reading "Highlights Magazine" as a child in the doctor's waiting room. My favorite feature was the "Hidden Pictures" puzzle, where kids had to find small images hidden within a larger picture. Despite having a list of what to look for, the puzzle was still challenging.
As a parent, I witnessed something similar when our youngest son pursued falconry. The process required dedication and perseverance. After passing an exam and gathering equipment, he built a mews and found a sponsor before capturing an immature red tail hawk.
Finding the hawk wasn't easy. For several weekends, family members helped search wooded areas without much success at first. Over time, we learned where to look, and soon hawks became visible everywhere. This taught us that once you know what you're looking for, it becomes clear.
During Advent, the church encourages believers to seek God anew. Faith reassures us that God is hidden in plain sight throughout the world—a sanctuary of his presence.
However, fewer people seem to be searching for God today compared to medieval Christians who viewed life as sacramental and full of divine meaning. They believed everything came from God and led back to him.
Our modern analytical mindset often separates us from this view, leading many to doubt God's presence or see searching for him as futile.
The experience of God's immanence can unite us with the Divine narrative and history's current towards eternity. Without it, Christmas may feel like a distant historical event rather than a present reality.
Yet God's word remains: “When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart” (Jer 29:13).
God is always with us as Emmanuel. Once we recognize him during Advent, we cannot unsee him. It's a time to examine what we're looking for and realize that God sees us because he seeks us too.
Jaymie Stuart Wolfe is described as "a sinner," Catholic convert, freelance writer and editor, musician, speaker, pet-aholic," wife and mother of eight grown children living in New Orleans.
