Advent

I've been learning Latin along with my children these last few years and it has opened up my mind to nuances that were overlooked by me before.

Advent is one such word.  It has always been just a Christmas word or a beginning word.  But this year, advent literally means "toward the coming" to me because I know the Latin roots.  I should be preparing, reflecting, expecting.

I love the Christmas story with its dreams and miraculous conceptions, joyous angels, weeping Simeon, and a mother who treasures it all in her heart.  But much of the time, in the midst of my Christmas preparations, I only give lip service to why I celebrate.  My heart is distracted by what I will wear to a party, what cookies I will bake, and whether or not my children look sufficiently adorable for the the Christmas photo.

For the remainder of this advent season, I am determined to be more mindful of Jesus behind my busyness.  His birth was the pivot point of history.  The darkness had a stranglehold on our little planet and we were stumbling, blind without his light and healing; desperate without his love.

Thank you, Jesus, for leaving the glories and worship of heaven to be born in a rude hut, live under oppression in a dusty land, and die a cruel death for me.

Advent Fulfilled

A baby's cry pierces the dark,
The WORD's first human sound.
The pivot point of history,
The lost can now be found.

Darkness, hatred, millennium of war,
Gnashing, keening, wailing for no more.
Promises given, prophecies foretold
Fulfillment quietly rests in the baby Mary holds.

"With the dawn of redeeming grace."
So the line sings in "Silent Night,"
In a tiny babe, we see God's face,
In a needy infant, we behold the light.

Come, Lord Jesus, come....