Everyone should have a cousin like Elizabeth. In Luke's telling of the story when Mary arrives at Elizabeth's home, she has by the work of the Holy Spirit an insight into the meaning of what is happening to them. You see, Elizabeth didn't have gold or frankincense or myrrh, but Elizabeth had something much more important. Elizabeth brought the gift of Expectation. She expected God's promise to be fulfilled and she saw it.
Expectations are important.
I wonder what you are expecting this Christmas season. If the height of your expectation this season is that you will eat, drink and spend a lot of money, that's probably all you will get out of the season. Our expectations often define what we find and I wonder what would happen to us if we, like Elizabeth, had eyes to see and ears to hear the fulfillment of God's promise among us this year. What if our eyes and ears were open so that, at home, in the neighborhood, at work, at the shopping mall, at the school program we would discover Christ's presence in the mundane and the ordinary of our world. What if we expected it.