Oh, how I love these words written by one who dared to keep speaking the truth

that spurred the Nazis to take his life too early, one whom this earth was not worthy.

Yes, he certainly kept advent in anticipation of the "ultimate."

Sometimes I walk around, yes even in our tiny house, and wonder what it is that I have forgotten.  Sometimes it is where I have set my phone down, or my glasses, or if  our tiny dishwasher has clean or dirty dishes in it.  But much greater things are what I usually forget. 
I need Scripture to jar my memory of all the promises of God which are "yes and amen in Christ Jesus."  Black and white.  Face value.  No twisting needed.  How could I ever forget?  Mostly, I forget how great a love the Lord has set upon me, one so great that He sent His son to die for me, to break the bonds of sin and death and to empower me to have His resurrected life alive in me through His Holy Spirit.  It is the giving of His son that we celebrate with Advent as a reminder of the precious cost to heaven.  "Love is free but not cheap."

Here's an excerpt from John Wesley's "A Plain Account of Christian Perfection."

"6.  On January 1, 1733, I preached before the university, in St. Mary's Church, on 'the circumcision of the heart;' an account of which I gave in these words: 'It is that habitual disposition of soul which, in the sacred writings, is termed holiness; and which implies the being cleansed from sin, 'from filthiness both of flesh and spirit; and, by consequence, the being endured with those virtues which were in Christ Jesus: the being so 'renewed in the image of our mind' as to be 'perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.'"

"In the same sermon I observed, 'Love is the fulfilling of the law, that end of the commandment.'  It is not only' the first and great' command, but all the commandments in one.  'Whatsoever things are just, whatsoever thing are pure, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise ,' they are all comprised in this one word, love,  In this is perfection, and glory, and happiness; the royal law of heaven and earth is this, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.'  The one perfect good shall be your one ULTIMATE end.  One thing shall ye desire for its own sake--the fruition of Him who is all in all.  One happiness shall ye propose to your souls, even a union with Him that made them, the having 'fellowship with the Father and the Son,' the being 'joined to the Lord in one spirit.'  One design ye are to pursue to the end of time--the enjoyment of God in time and in eternity.  Desire other things, so far as they tend to this; love the creature, as it leads to the Creator.  But in every step you take, be this the glorious point that terminates your view.  Let every affection, and thought, and word, and action, be subordinate to this.  Whatever ye desire or fear, whatever ye seek or shun, whatever ye think, speak, or do, be it in order to your happiness in God, the sole end, as well as source, of your being.'"

Yeah, that.  I think I had kinda forgotten it:  "The one perfect good shall be your one ULTIMATE end."  Yep, I think D. Bonhoeffer had it down correctly.  We should never forget that this whole life is advent, waiting for the ultimate.  I believe!