ADVENTUALLY

by Cynthia Ruchti

Eventually. Inadvertently. Accidentally. Exceptionally. Conceivably. Adventually.

All adverbs. All have their place, although in limited doses. All…except the one that doesn't belong with the others. 

Adventually isn't a real word. Is it?

The Urban Dictionary--not recommended for most endeavors--claims adventually is a combination of eventually and adventure. "You'll eventually get to that adventure."

Other web-based sources list erroneous public uses of the word adventually when the speaker or writer intended to say eventually.

The word adventual, referring to the season of advent, appears in dictionaries from the 1800s and very early 1900s. A more current work--Adventually--Waiting for the Messiah--by Loretta Ross-Gotta, published in 1994, was a sixteen page spiral bound book, a play on words linking advent and event…ually, which coincidentally eventually went out of print.

I'm nearing an important deadline at the end of December this year, a book that has nothing to do with Christmas. But I'm endeavoring to write it adventually, with a clear purpose that doesn't stray from the concept that advent was eventually fulfilled in the coming of the Messiah.

It influences everything about this novel. Not the trappings--seasons, snow, decorations, holiday activities. It influences why the character can cling to hope. Why her relationships are not doomed forever. Why the crises that try her soul have resolutions waiting in the wings.

Because of advent. Because after long years of waiting, so long they traced back to Adam and Eve, Jesus was born. The Savior slipped into our world and changed everything.

As promised.

Before he witnessed the fulfillment with his eyes, the prophet Zechariah spoke as if it were already a done deal. He knew Christ would come…adventually.

Luke 1:67-75, 78-79  CEB

"Bless the Lord God of Israel

because he has come to help

and has delivered his people.

He has raised up a mighty savior for us

in his servant David's house,

just as he said through the mouths 

of his holy prophets long ago.

He has brought salvation

from our enemies

and from the power

of all those who hate us.

He has shown the mercy promised

to our ancestors,

and remembered his holy covenant,

the solemn pledge he made

to our ancestor Abraham.

He has granted that we would be rescued

fromt he power of our enemies

so that we could serve him without fear,

in holiness and righteousness

in God's eyes,

for as long as we live…

Because of our God's deep compassion,

the dawn from heaven

will break upon us,

to give light to those

who are sitting in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide us on the path of peace."

May we approach every moment, every word we write, every song we sing, every deed or crisis or conflict or relationship adventually.

How is that playing out in your life or your writing this month?

Award-winning author Cynthia Ruchti tells stories hemmed in hope through her novels, novellas, devotions, and nonfiction. Recent releases include Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People's Choices and All My Belongings (novel). She and her husband live in the heart of Wisconsin not far from their three children and five grandchildren. cynthiaruchti.com or http://facebook.com/CynthiaRuchtiReaderPage