Faith on a pendulum

"Every Parkinson's sufferer moves along a pendulum between deep frustration and great hope," said Michael J. Fox, actor and Parkinson's patient.

Anyone who remembers "Family Ties" on television or the "Back to the Future" movies will remember Michael J. Fox, the diminutive actor from western Canada. Fox is now a middle-aged man who spends his time as a passionate advocate for research into Parkinson's, a degenerative disease of the central nervous system. For most sufferers, the most visible sign of affliction are tremors; in other words, they shake.

The other night on C-SPAN, I saw a remarkable display of courage. Two well-known men, the aforementioned Fox and Time magazine columnist Michael Kinsley, were taking questions from an audience. Both suffer from the disease. It was jarring to watch. Fox was incessantly shifting his body in a chair, crossing and uncrossing his legs. Kinsley swiveled his head back and forth as though he were a marionette while simultaneously squinting his eyes with painful rapidity.

Although their speech was at times halting, both were quite articulate about the disease and current state of research. I found myself closing my eyes to listen so as to not be distracted by the bodies constantly in motion.

What does the coming of Christ, which is what the Advent season is about, mean for a Parkinson's sufferer? It is possible, of course, to think of Advent entirely in terms of a literal, futuristic second coming by Jesus. Several biblical passages can be isolated to support that legitimate and time-honored theme. Yet there is also a "here and now" quality about Advent.

If I'm ill, when and how does Christ come for me?

If I've been betrayed, if I've suffered a major disappointment, if I've lost a loved one, if I'm newly divorced and separated, if I'm chronically depressed, when and how does Christ come?

Fox does not use religious language, typically, in his remarks. He does, however, use words again and again that illustrate the attitude Christians ought to have during Advent. Fox talks about being alert to new developments in research. "Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." (Matthew 24:42)

The actor also speaks of being ready to embrace medications not designed for Parkinson's but may be effective. (Fox himself accidentally discovered a flu medication designed for seniors that helps him control the extreme back-and-forth rocking that troubled him in earlier days.) "Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour." (Matthew 24:44)

We can think of Advent in terms of some time in a distant future. There is precedent to do so. For me, I'm more interested in seeing how Jesus comes to us in the everyday.

When a more effective treatment for a physical disorder is approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration, is this not a way to say that Christ has come anew? "I come that you might have life and have it to the full." (John 10:10)

Apply this thinking to other areas of life and you can infer that Christ comes constantly.

I'm finding great resonance this Advent in Fox's words about the pendulum. Christ keeps the pendulum moving, trying to help us move from moments of deep frustration to times of great hope.

Jeff Long is a pastor of Centenary Methodist church in Cape Girardeau. Married with two daughters, he is of Scots and Swedish decent, loves movies and is a lifelong fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers.