Advent Week Three: Love

 

Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:  Luke 2:9-10 

The angels swoop and stir amid the shepherds.  The angels sing out with a song to sooth the shepherds who tremble with terror.  When I read these two verses, I hear the brilliant line of O Little Town of Bethlehem, “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”  The hopes, your hopes this year.  The fears, your fears this year.  Both find space and place in Christ’s birth.

I feel like a shepherd in the field this year.  A bit lost and weary amid a year of so many changes.  Separated from those I care about and unable to share hugs with those I do get to see.  The challenges of navigate the world in such a time as this makes us all feel like we are traveling without a map, GPS, compass, or any kind of instrument that could help.  We are in uncharted territory.  There is that brilliant line of I Wonder as I Wander, sing it with me from your home,

I wonder as I wander out under the sky
How Jesus my Savior did come for to die
For poor on'ry people like you and like I
I wonder as I wander out under the sky.

What do you wonder about as you wander around the world right now?

What hopes stir and sing within you?

What fears try to squelch or silent our hopes by belting out all that is wrong and broken right now?

I invite you to hold those questions amid the lights of “Hope,” “Peace,” and “Love” today and this week.  Don’t rush to respond, but simply sit with all that is stirred by each inquiry.  Ponder, like Mary, for a while; then step aside letting these questions sit on simmer in the back burner of your soul.

I pray that such wondering as we wander about our lives this day would bless us and open us to God’s hope, peace, and love in new ways.

Prayer: God of questions we don’t need to race/rush to answer, sit with us in still as we pray our hopes and fears of this year and for the coming year honestly with You.  Amen.