Sometimes I echo the words of Isaiah: "O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence-as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil-to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence!" (64:1-2). During Advent, we deal with the tension between preparing for the birth of Jesus and his return. Preparing for one is to prepare for the other.