An Advent Prayer

November 30 is the first Sunday of Advent. In the liturgical year, or the church year, Advent is a time of watching and waiting, a time of hope, of expectation and preparation. It is getting ready for the coming of the Christ, the miracle of God’s presence with us, among us, within us.

For me, one of the deeply satisfying aspects of observing the liturgical calendar is the rhythm that it creates and the cycle that it follows. It helps to keep me from moving too quickly through life. It marks off time, creates boundaries, and says to me, “In this time, think about these things.”

It would be easy to rush into Christmas. The mood is joyful, the songs are beautiful, and it is a wonderful celebration. But the ancients who developed this liturgical season understood that we must take time to prepare in order to fully appreciate and respond to God’s great gift to us. And in this day and age, with the partying, shopping and eating rush that besets us all between Thanksgiving and December 24, so much more than ever, we need this season of quiet watchfulness.

Advent is a gift of time – a great opportunity for us to slow down, to focus, and to make ready our hearts and our lives for the fullness of God’s presence. I offer this prayer for Advent:

Holy One, we experience your presence in many ways: the majesty of a star-filled sky, the coolness of the night breeze, the gentleness in a mother’s touch, the fragile tenderness of a newborn child. May we open our hearts, open our imaginations to all the ways that that your love and your grace touch our lives.

In this Advent time of watching and waiting, may we be newly aware of all of the possibilities that exist for us in this life: the ability to love and to be loved, the opportunities for forgiveness and for reconciliation, the potential that we each have to reach out to one another and to care for one another.

God, may we find the courage to cast off the shackles of the past, the worries, the fears, and the disappointments that hold us back and keep us from acting courageously and that stop us from taking chances. May our faith be strengthened: our faith in you, in one another and in ourselves that we might live more boldly, acting with compassion and working toward your realm of justice. May we both envision and strive for a future where all of your children will live in peace.

God, we want to be people who live in hope, not in fear, people who look forward with expectation, not backward or who live only in the past. May we be people whose open hearts and open minds make it possible for your spirit to be born in us every day. Amen.