“My soul cries out with a joyful shout that the God of my heart is great, And my spirit sings of the wondrous things that you bring to the one who waits.”
December 2nd, the second day of Advent…and already we are busy. Shopping, parades, baking, Nutcracker performances, volunteering, family gatherings, and church services, the list could go on. During Advent, our calendars fill up so quickly we run the risk of missing the joy of the incarnation. If you’ve never read all of the lyrics to the Canticle of the Turning, I encourage you to do that today. This hymn exemplifies the incredibly good news of Christ’s coming. It’s dramatic, it’s joyful, it’s hopeful, and it promises that when Jesus Christ is born…the world will never be the same.
If you are prone to spend your Advent season rushing around in a flurry of obligations, I hope this year will be different. I hope this season you spend less time speeding around trying to fit everything in, and that you spend more time listening for the heartbeat of God that is all around you.
One of my favorite authors, Cole Arthur Riley says this, “In Christmastide, we give joy time to breathe. For twelve days, we bask in the reality that the divine cared enough about the oppressed that they were willing to abandon the privilege of paradise and be made mortal. Particularly the mortality of a babe—small and needy and powerless.”1
I hope you don’t wait for Christmas day to arrive before you allow yourself to give joy time to breathe…I hope you start basking in God’s love for you right now.
Prayer: God who loves me, in this busy season help me to slow down. Give me permission to let things go. Help me to listen for your heartbeat. Show me how to give joy time to breathe, this day and every day. Amen.
Rev. Molly Spangler
1Cole Arthur Riley, Black Liturgies-Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human