Advent with Pademic

 We wait four weeks as we advent to Christmas.

But haven't we been waiting since last March?

For something?  For relief?   For a time without masks?  For an embrace? 

We wait some more.

In the new year a vaccine will come to save us.

Some were not saved.  Some did not make it to this day.

From my friend Bob ...

Some . . too many are not here today.

There is deep sorrow in this coming, this advent.

And deep darkness along this path to light.

We have tilted, with the planet, into longer nights and shorter days.

Into deeper dark and thinner light. 

Why is this Advent different from earlier Advents?

Advent in pandemic.

Pandemic before, during and beyond Advent.

In the dark, death stalking.

In the dark, we long for light.

Maybe this Advent is different from other Advents

  because we are engulfed by more darkness than ever before.

Maybe this Advent is unique because our yearning for light

  and love is as close as and as distant as an embrace, a cure.

Even one small flickering candle will do. 

A wave across the distance. 

Since last March

A light at the end of four weeks 

A birth of someone

A coming to us

An embrace

A welcome like we've never known before

Advent Waiting

Advent is a time of waiting.

A prepared waiting.

Formed in ages past.

By sorrow.

Disappointment.

Wrong turns and bad decisions.

By prophetic words.

Dreams and fancies.

Promises and hopes.

All of it, a preparing.

A shaking and a shaping.

Molding the spirit.

Advent waiting.

Pondering what has been.

Ages past, and just last year.

Everything counts in the shaking.

The shaping.

The molding.

Nothing lost.

All is used.

The good and the bad.

We learn in Advent.

To give thanks.

For everything.

Not because everything is good.

It isn't.

Some of it is downright evil.

But nothing defeats the work of God.

Everything is a tool.

To prepare the soul.

Advent invites Thanksgiving.

For the preparing and its pain.

For the journey and its joy.

And when thanks is given.

When, with love, we receive what has been.

When, in humility, we dare to see the preparing.

The future opens before us.

A star shines from on high.

And in a nearby stable, small and warm, the Christ is born anew!

Advent Prayer - Centering Ourselves in Christ

Advent Prayer – Centering Ourselves in Christ

Teach us, we pray, to walk with Christ more intently and more easily.

To walk with him in the ways of our lives.

In the best of times and in the worst.

When laughter comes quickly and when tears flow deeply.

Teach us, we pray, to hear the words of Christ.

To abide in them and ponder their meaning.

Making his words our words.

Learning from them how to live and how to love.

Teach us, we pray, to share Christ.

By the words of faith we share with others.

By the justice we pursue.

By the grace of open arms and the power of an open mind.

Teach us, we pray, to love Christ all the more.

To seek our salvation in his glory.

In the wonder of his cross and the mystery of the empty tomb.

For in him, dear God, you have given us life, here and now and forever.

Teach us, we pray, that Christ would be our all-in-all.

In his name, and for his sake. Amen!

Prayer - Sunday, December 21, 2008

It’s Advent, LORD, and we’re waiting … waiting as your people of old … we’ve counted the weeks … today is Advent 4 … the end is upon us … this week brings us to Christmas … and how our hearts sing with the ancient choir that greeted and startled the shepherds in the hills …

We, too, are startled by it all … that you, the Great God Almighty, set aside your robes of blue to be wrapped in simple blankets and laid in a manger … a simple setting to frighten no one … no pomp, no circumstance … a kindness beyond all measure … so that everyone, from shepherds to kings, from the common to the uncommon … from the powerful to the powerless … would all be welcomed … a place for everyone … no one intimidated, no one embarrassed for want of position or wealth …

We thank you for such grace … a place for each of us …

Help us all, we pray, to be Christmas people … to hear the sounds of angels … to see the guiding star … to bow the knee to the child of Bethlehem … to worship and adore … to follow his journey …

From Bethlehem to Nazareth … from Nazareth to the Jordan … and on to Jerusalem … to the cross … to the darkest regions of the heart … as far away as hell itself … to bring light and peace to every realm …

With Mary his mother, our souls magnify you, and we rejoice in our Savior … for he has looked with favor upon us …

O LORD our God, we are yours … though a thousand gods lay claim to our life, a thousand needs and a thousand dreams … we are yours … and we wouldn’t have it any other way …

In your goodness, we find our goodness …
In your light, we see light …
In your love, we become loving …

We pray today for your church … that her message be clear and her faith be strong … that your people be drawn together in a greater unity … that in these days of danger and opportunity, the gospel of hope may inspire us all …

Send us out from this high hour of worship to be fearless and faithful citizens of your kingdom … bearing witness to the grace of Christ our LORD …

Like the shepherds of old, O God,
Come and visit us we pray …
We’re ready and we’re needy …

And we’re ready to follow …

In the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,

Prayer - Sunday, November 3, 2008

Our hearts are saddened by the news from Mumbai … bloodshed and tears … families torn apart … the depths of human hatred, O God, stun us when seen so clearly …

We pray for the victims and their families … we pray for the terrorists who see the world from a perspective we cannot understand …

We pray this morning for the nations of India and Pakistan … and we pray that religious leaders in both lands will calm fears and ease anger …

In this Season of Advent, O LORD, we’re reminded of the world in which our LORD was born … a world so similar to ours, the human penchant for fear and prejudice remains a constant in our stories …

We cry out, O LORD, for your help and your healing.
We cannot do this on our own …
Without divine counsel, the human heart curls itself around the worst instincts and darkest thoughts …

All of us, LORD,
Need your Advent grace … the gift of love, and peace, and kindness.
Help us, in this place,
Covenant on the Corner,
To embody the virtues of your Kingdom …
The goodness of your governance …
May the world see something of value in us …
Not our words,
Nor our buildings, but the way we love …
The way we forgive and the way we welcome …
Barring no one … receiving everyone as brother or sister …
Bringing down the walls others raise up …
Building bridges over the chasms others are so quick to dig …

Help us, we pray, to read our Bibles well …
To follow Jesus with new devotion …
To open our hearts all the more to his influence …
To be the light of the world and the salt of the earth …

We pray today for our families …
For our fiends …
We pray for the Presbyterian Church, here and around the world …
We pray for religious leaders everywhere: for priest and rabbi, for pastor and imam …
We pray for President Bush …
For President-elect Obama …
For Governor Schwarzenegger
For Mayor Villaraigosa and all their families …

In this remarkable season of Advent, O God, help us see the power and the glory of your grace … Gabriel’s visit to Mary, her perplexity and Joseph’s uncertainty … the distress of the inn keeper to make room for one more family … the surprise of the shepherds to be included …

LORD, widen our hearts … give us large thoughts to think …
And large deeds to do …

We pray in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name …