Today is the first Sunday of Advent in the Christian liturgical calendar. It is the first of four Sundays leading up to Christmas, where we are meant to think and pray about the arrival of the Christ, Emmanuel - 'God with us'.
The Advent lectionary readings from the Gospels and Hebrew prophets encourage us to ponder the birth of Jesus and look forward in anticipation to Christ's return. In doing so, we look not only to the past and future but eagerly await and pray for the in-breaking of God's transformative presence in our lives and world today.
We pray for and await the birth of Christ, not only in ourselves but also in our world. Today I came across the following unattributed Advent prayer:
Advent as I Consider the World SituationGod of comfort, these times seem so uncertain, so scary. The world seems darker than it has in the past and I am less sure of myself. Maybe that's a good thing; maybe now I am turning to you with a realization that I need you so much more and that my life is not in my own control. Let me not forget all of those around the world who are frightened at this moment. Help those who are victims of terrorism and war. Be with those who have lost so much in the past year. Hold us all in your loving arms and let us be comforted by the strength and peace you want to much to offer us through the birth of your son, Jesus. Thank you for the many gifts you offer us.
Why is this prayer necessary? Because if we truly believe in a dynamic and living God—and not the pre-determined, dispensationalist deity-in-a-box favored by the religious right—we pray with hope for world in spite of the darkness that sometimes seems to overwhelm us.
The process theologian Dr. John Cobb begins his 2005 Advent commentary thus:
It is precisely at the moments when life seems dark and bleak that the resources of our inherited and practiced faith must be called forth not simply to “get us through” but to transform our habits of mind into new ways of being in the world.That is what the Advent Story is about—transforming habits of mind and through that transformation, changing the world. The French writer, Nobel Laureate and agnostic Albert Camus said it best, “In the midst of winter, I finally learned there was within me an invincible summer.”
Through Advent we are called to re-discover the transcendent within the present moment and opportunity: 'God with us, revealed in us,' as the popular hymn goes. As Dr. Cobb reminds us,
No matter how mega our churches or grandiose our fantasies, regardless of how certain the personal salvation or doubt in the existence of God, our lives have always and will continue to be repositories of bits of pleasure and scraps of pain in quest of sense and meaning in this preciously short adventure called Life. Our spiritual ancestors understood that. They themselves were on the same quest.
My prayer this Advent is that the light of God may find a home in us, and that through us this light may shine into the darkness around us, burning ever brighter with justice, truth, love and hope until that day when the brightest Light of all is revealed.
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