On the Edge of Advent take Three

A prayer for the days ahead...

On the edge and eve of beginning to walk toward Bethlehem, we pause to breathe and be in the presence of the One who goes by the name, Emmanuel, God with us and for us.

Holy One, born in a barn, a most peculiar place;
Move in the ordinary Tuesdays and odd Saturdays of our lives.
Open our ears to hear Your holy song in the wind sailing through trees;
In the sun sneaking and peaking through rain clouds;
In the moments we focus and frame our whole lives to You.

Holy One, born in a barn as a tiny baby, vulnerable ~ fragile ~ fierce with love;
Let that be born in us in the days to come.
Open our hearts to the beauty and brokenness within and around us.
Remind us, like a piece of glass, that we can sometimes be broken whole.
Infuse and inspire with us a love to practice Your words rather than read from the script of the world.

Holy One, born in a barn, witnessed by shepherds and foreigners from afar,
Open us to sense the traces of Your grace,
Invite us to stand in the straw,
Compel and convict us to not criticize the guest list who followed angels and a star,
But to be side-by-side with people who reflect Your creativity in diverse ways.

Holy One, born in a barn, go beside us as we travel the days ahead.
Stir within us the mystery of this time of year.
Enable us to taste on the tips of our tongues the sweet, sacredness of Advent.
So that a month from now, on a silent and holy night, we might sense fully Your presence.
So that a month from now, we will know fully and be fully embraced by the promise of...
Emmanuel.

Amen.