One of my favorite family movies is Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. It has enough silliness for kids, clever jokes for adults, and wonder for both. The title character, Mr. Magorium, owns a magical toy store that he has run for hundreds of years. Many years ago, he purchased a lifetime supply of shoes; his last pair is now wearing out.
His assistant, Molly Mahoney, thinks he is depressed – he is not, but she thinks he is. She tries to cheer him up by doing fun and silly things like jumping on all of the mattresses at a mattress store and dancing on bubble wrap to hear it pop. They go to a clock store and synchronize all of the clocks to the same time to hear them all go off together.
After setting all of the clocks, they have 37 seconds remaining. Mahoney says, “Great, well done. Now we wait.” Mr. Magorium responds, “No. We breathe. We pulse. We regenerate. Our hearts beat. Our minds create. Our souls ingest. Thirty-seven seconds, well used, is a lifetime.”
I think that Mr. Magorium is an Advent movie. It doesn’t take place in December, but it is about endings and toys. And most importantly, what may at first glance appear to be about waiting is really about something more. They don’t wait in the clock store and Advent is not simply waiting for Christmas. Advent is a time to breathe, pulse, and regenerate.
Sometimes, it feels like the pandemic is just about waiting at this point. Waiting for more to get vaccinated. Waiting for the children to be eligible for the vaccine. Waiting for the pandemic to end. Maybe we can embrace this Pandemic Advent in this spirit of Mr. Magorium. We are not just waiting for Christmas and normalcy. Our hearts are still beating, our minds are creating, and our souls are ingesting even now. Often we live in the past or the future. Spending time in those places of memory or hope isn’t necessarily bad; Advent points us to both after all. But ultimately we live in the space between, we live in this place of the present. Enjoy the gift that it is. Christ is present here, too. Enjoy Advent.
