Advent Devotion for December 24

Christmas Eve

by Christina Rossetti

Christmas has a darkness,
Brighter than the blazing noon,
Christmas has a chillness
Warmer than the heat of June,
Christmas has a beauty
Lovelier than the world can show:
For Christmas brings us Jesus,
Brought for us so low.

Earth strike up your music,
Birds that sing and bells that ring;
Heaven has answering music
For all angels soon to sing:
Earth put on your whitest
Bridal robe of spotless snow:
For Christmas brings us Jesus,

Brought for us so low..

Advent Devotion for December 23

BC - AD
U.A. Fanthorpe

This was the moment when Before
Turned into After, and the future's
Uninvented timekeepers presented arms.

This was the moment when nothing
Happened. Only dull peace
Sprawled boringly over the earth.

This was the moment when even energetic Romans
Could find nothing better to do
Than counting heads in remote provinces.

And this was the moment
When a few farm workers and three
Members of an obscure Persian sect

Walked haphazard by starlight straight
Into the kingdom of heaven.   

Advent Devotion for December 22

What The Donkey Saw

U.A. Fanthorpe

No room in the inn , of course,
And not that much in the stable
What with the shepherds, Magi, Mary,
Joseph, the heavenly host-
Not to mention the baby
Using our manger as a cot.
You couldn't have squeezed another cherub in
For love nor money

Still, in spite of the overcrowding,
I did my best to make them feel wanted.
I could see the baby and I
Would be going places together

Advent Devotion for December 20

Advent
by Sr. Christine Schenk 

I wait
with quickened hope
for crooked paths
to straighten,

with tough-soul'd
anguish,
while blinded
keepers of the keys
shut out
God's own.

(If such a thing
were possible.)

I wait,
and will not be
dismayed.

For tiny shoot
of Jesse tree
took root in me
to love
transform,
give sight
set free

Advent Devotion for December 21

Today is the winter solstice - the day of the year with the shortest amount of daylight. Some faith communities offer a "Service of the Longest Night" (sometimes called a "Blue Christmas Service") to acknowledge that, for some, this is not "the most wonderful time of the year". Let us remember those who are struggling with grief, depression, family dysfunction, financial problems, disappointed expectations, etc.

The Winter Is Cold, Is Cold

by Madeleine L’Engle

The winter is cold, is cold.

All’s spent in keeping warm.

Has joy been frozen, too?

I blow upon my hands

Stiff from the biting wind.

My heart beats slow, beats slow.

What has become of joy?

If joy’s gone from my heart

Then it is closed to You

Who made it, gave it life.

If I protect myself

I’m hiding, Lord, from you.

How we defend ourselves

In ancient suits of mail!

Protected from the sword,

Shrinking from the wound,

We look for happiness,

Small, safety-seeking, dulled,

Selfish, exclusive, in-turned.

Elusive, evasive, peace comes

Only when it’s not sought.

Help me forget the cold

That grips the grasping world.

Let me stretch out my hands

To purifying fire,

Clutching fingers uncurled.

Look! Here is the melting joy.

My heart beats once again.

Advent Devotion for December 19

Magnificat

by Thomas John Carlisle

If Mary had sung her song of songs
with our accustomed
unmangificence
and dearth of urgency
all the commitment
all the charm
and all the challenge
and anticipation
would have been completely dissipated.

O sing anew
anew
anew
the simple song
which magnifies
rejoices
dares to vision
the fall of kings
the exaltation of the small
unviolent, trusting and faith-full
servants
of the spectacularly
creative God.

Advent Devotion for December 18

First Coming
by Madeleine L’Engle

He did not wait till the world was ready,
till men and nations were at peace.
He came when the Heavens were unsteady,
and prisoners cried out for release.

He did not wait for the perfect time.
He came when the need was deep and great.
He dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine. He did not wait

till hearts were pure. In joy he came
to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame
he came, and his Light would not go out.

He came to a world which did not mesh,
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
the Maker of the stars was born.

We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs with joyful voice,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain,
He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!

Advent Devotion for December 17

The Disarming Child

by Charlie Lowell

Helpless and human
Diety in the dirt,
Spirit married with flesh
We couldn’t make it to you,
But you come to us.

You always come to us.
In our stubbornness and desire,
Entitlement and shame
Remind us that we need you,
Merge your untamed Spirit with our flesh.

We try to forget those
Years of wandering.
Shackles and masters,
An eternity of doubting
And still, you come to us.

A divine intrusion
Through our scheming and chaos-
Coats of armor, angels and armies.
Do some wrecking here,
And gently come to us.

Disturb us this day
Through sorrow and through dancing,
The bliss of joy and sting of death
Past hands that would threaten and tear,
You come to us extravagantly.

From your manger lowly,
Mighty and mysterious
You come to us, Seed of Heaven
Spirit wed with flesh,
These broken hearts to mend.

Advent Devotion for December 16

"Para dar Luz Inmortal" 

by Chanticleer 

This beautiful piece of music was written by 18th-century Mexican composer Manuel de Sumaya in honor of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus.

"You are a throne, since your arms received the Christ Child 

And they came together in sweet embrace with the tenderest affection;

enjoy Joseph, the ermine of this celestial flower.

You are Joseph, the clear day in angelic purity."

Advent Devotion for December 15

A Prayer from the Iona Community

Eternal God, in the long ago days when the earth was above the clouds, and disease was caused by demons, your son was born to lighten all our darknesses.

We now, after the enlightenment, are in bondage to different limitations. We doubt what we cannot prove; we ignore what we cannot see, and finding little room for faith, we must confess, we suspect angels and disbelieve good news.

We admit ourselves to be both infected and affected by the spirit of our times. Behind talk of world peace, we hear the machinery of war; beneath talk of global equity we detect the posturing of the powerful; beside talk of your church being renewed, we recognize the bondage to failed patterns of the past. Rather than embrace the light, we become fascinated by darkness, and must confess, we suspect angels and disbelieve good news.

Ah, God, who will save us? Our cynicism is the fruit of our experience, not the key to the future. Our suspiciousness helps us to smell the rat, never to recognize the dove. Our perfect analysis may describe the mountain, but is helpless to move it. It is with little pride we must confess, we suspect angels and disbelieve good news.

As Christmas approaches, give us a share of that divine naiveté enjoyed by Elizabeth and Zechariah, Mary and Joseph, and unnamed country folk, who encountered angels and believed the Good News and recognized Christ among them. Amen.

Advent Devotion for December 14

The Risk of Birth (Christmas, 1973)

by Madeleine L’Engle

This is no time for a child to be born,

With the earth betrayed by war & hate

And a comet slashing the sky to warn

That time runs out & the sun burns late.

That was no time for a child to be born,

In a land in the crushing grip of Rome;

Honor & truth were trampled by scorn-

Yet here did the Savior make his home.

When is the time for love to be born?

The inn is full on the planet earth,

And by a comet the sky is torn-

Yet Love still takes the risk of birth.

Advent Devotion for December 13

"On the Mystery of the Incarnation"
by Denise Levertov 

It's when we face for a moment
the worst our kind can do, and shudder to know
the taint in our own selves, that awe
cracks the mind's shell and enters the heart:
not to a flower, not to a dolphin,
to no innocent form
but to this creature vainly sure
it and no other is god-like, God
(out of compassion for our ugly
failure to evolve) entrusts,
as guest, as brother,
the Word.

Advent Devotion for December 12

Mary's Song
by Luci Shaw

Blue homespun and the bend of my breast
keep warm this small hot naked star
fallen to my arms. (Rest …
you who have had so far to come.)
Now nearness satisfies
the body of God sweetly. Quiet he lies
whose vigor hurled a universe. He sleeps
whose eyelids have not closed before.
His breath (so slight it seems
no breath at all) once ruffled the dark deeps
to sprout a world. Charmed by doves' voices,
the whisper of straw, he dreams,
hearing no music from his other spheres.
Breath, mouth, ears, eyes
he is curtailed who overflowed all skies,
all years. Older than eternity, now he
is new. Now native to earth as I am, nailed
to my poor planet, caught
that I might be free, blind in my womb
to know my darkness ended,
brought to this birth for me to be new-born,
and for him to see me mended
I must see him torn.

Advent Devotion for December 11

Advent
By Frederick Buechner

The house lights go off and the footlights come on. Even the chattiest stop chattering as they wait in darkness for the curtain to rise. In the orchestra pit, the violin bows are poised. The conductor has raised the baton.

In the silence of a midwinter dusk there is far off in the deeps of it somewhere a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself. You hold your breath to listen.

You walk up the steps to the front door. The empty windows at either side of it tell you nothing, or almost nothing. For a second you catch a whiff in the air of some fragrance that reminds you of a place you've never been and a time you have no words for. You are aware of the beating of your heart.

The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment.

The Salvation Army Santa Claus clangs his bell. The sidewalks are so crowded you can hardly move. Exhaust fumes are the chief fragrance in the air, and everybody is as bundled up against any sense of what all the fuss is really about as they are bundled up against the windchill factor.

But if you concentrate just for an instant, far off in the deeps of yourself somewhere you can feel the beating of your heart. For all its madness and lostness, not to mention your own, you can hear the world itself holding its breath.

Advent Devotion for December 10

"Virgin"
by Luci Shaw

As if until that moment
nothing real
had happened since Creation

As if outside the world were empty
so that she and he were all
there was — he mover, she moved upon

As if her submission were the most
dynamic of all works: as if
no one had ever said Yes like that

As if one day the sun had no place
in all the universe to pour its gold
but her small room

Advent Devotion for December 9

(For a wonderful interpretation of Simone Martini's "Annunciation" - the larger 14th century painting from which the illustration above was taken - go to to this link.)

 And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
   and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
   Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
   and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
   from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
   he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
   and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
   and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
   in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
   to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

(Luke 1:46-55)

Divine Surprise

by Wallace E. Chappell

When the smooth talking

stranger (Read angel)

greeted her, too flowery

“Hail, O favored one,

the Lord is with you!”

Mary knew enough

to be suspicious.

The Bible says she wondered,

“What sort of greeting

this might be.”

I’ll bet she wondered.

Who wants such

unexpected and disturbing surprises?

Even God’s?

There’s fear, anxiety, and

something apprehensively alarming

in such an awesome unknown gift.

Do I want

new life in me?

By God’s design?

Wary we would also be.

But that fine lass

burst forth in song

of liberation:

My soul magnifies the Lord…

putting down the mighty

from their thrones.

and exalting those

of low degree;

The Lord has filled the hungry

with good things,

and the rich

are sent empty away!

That’s what this

Little Surprise (Read baby Jesus)

will bring.

Some gift.  Yes. Yes!

SOME GIFT!

Advent Devotion for December 8

Turnaround God

by Robin E. Van Cleef

God has a way of turning things around,

calling green shoot from dead stump,

investing the common with a sense of royalty

sending the spirit,

fists crammed with love and justice,

wisdom and might,

to transform lives.

Come, turnaround God,

touch my divided self,

drawing together the polarities:

leopard and lamb

lion and calf

subject to the implicit child within.

Advent Devotion for December 7

Advent Prayer

by Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Holy One,

prepare your way in me.

Give me faith, like the stable,

to know your presence within me.

Give me courage, like Mary,

to let your life overwhelm mine.

Give me strength, like Joseph,

to protect what is holy, tender and growing.

Give me patience, like the shepherds,

to be still and listen.

Give me humility, like the magi,

to kneel before your presence.

Give me trust, like the child,

to let myself be borne into a new world.

Give me joy, like the angels,

to bring good news to the poor.

Give me love, like the manger

to hold Christ within.

Holy One,

prepare your way in me.

Advent Devotion for December 6

The Coming of God

by Ann Weems

Our God is the One who comes to us

in a burning bush,

in an angel's song,

in a newborn child.

Our God is the One who cannot be found

locked in the church,

not even in the sanctuary.

Our God will be where God will be

with no constraints,

no predictability.

Our God lives where our God lives,

and destruction has no power

and even death cannot stop

the living.

Our God will be born where God will be born,

but there is no place to look for the One who comes to us.

When God is ready

God will come

even to a godforsaken place

like a stable in Bethlehem.

Watch...

for you know not when

God comes.

Watch, that you might be found

whenever

wherever

God comes.

Advent Devotion for December 5

Into The Darkest Hour

by Madeleine L’Engle

It was a time like this,
War & tumult of war,
a horror in the air.
Hungry yawned the abyss-
and yet there came the star
and the child most wonderfully there.

It was time like this
of fear & lust for power,
license & greed and blight-
and yet the Prince of bliss
came into the darkest hour
in quiet & silent light.

And in a time like this
how celebrate his birth
when all things fall apart?
Ah! Wonderful it is
with no room on the earth
the stable is our heart.

Advent Devotion for December 4

In Search of Our Kneeling Places  

by Ann Weems

In each heart lies a Bethlehem,

an inn where we must ultimately answer

whether there is room or not.

When we are Bethlehem-bound

we experience our own advent in his.

When we are Bethlehem-bound

we can no longer look the other way

    conveniently not seeing stars,

not hearing angel voices.

We can no longer excuse ourselves by busily

tending our sheep or our kingdoms.

This Advent let's go to Bethlehem

and see this thing that the Lord has made known to us.

In the midst of shopping sprees

let's ponder in our hearts the Gift of Gifts.

Through the tinsel

let's look for the gold of the Christmas Star.

In the excitement and confusion, in the merry chaos

let's listen for the brush of angels' wings.

This Advent, let's go to Bethlehem

and find our kneeling places.

Advent Devotion for December 3

God of December darkness and Christmas light, … Deepen my longing, heighten my expectation, and make pregnant my hope. I know that within my heart is a Bethlehem: a place where light shines with tender memories. A place where angelic voices sing loud and clear. A place of wonder and awe, delight and calm. … God of December darkness and Christmas light, journey with me during these days so that I may know and prize my Bethlehem moments. Amen.

(Larry James Peacock)

Advent Devotion for December 2

We give out love in boxes

wrapped, tied, tagged.

But the first Christmas gift

was a love that needed no adornment

or disguise;

a love

that wrapped itself

around out tired hearts forever.

(Kari Hill)