A Maker’s Advent, Week 1: Being Ready

Enter: Settle in to your quiet space with several deep, slow breaths. Light a candle, if you wish. Breathe in: Strengthen my heartBreathe out: I stand before You Jeremiah 33:14-16 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I have made to the house of Israel and the house …

Advent Day 21: The Return

Today's readings: Micah 5:1-5 and Luke 1:47-55Then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord... and they shall live secure... (Micah 5:3b-4)He has shown strength with his arm... he has filled the hungry with good things... (Luke 1:51a, …

Advent Day 20: Companions.

Today's reading: Luke 3:7-18Do not begin to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our ancestor"; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.  (v. 8b)If you think you know who your companions are on the journey of Advent--on the journey of faith, the very journey of …

Advent Day 19: The Lord is near.

Today's scripture: Philippians 4:4-7The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything... (vv. 5b-6a)If there was every any question, God,let us hear the affirmationand believe it with every fiber:You are near.We don't have to feel it.We don't even have to understand it.But in every step of our walk,however far or fast we go,however distant we …

Advent Day 18: In That Day

Today's reading: Isaiah 12: 2-6And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted. (v. 4)There are days that it is just plain hard to praise. (There are weeks, months, years, lifetimes that it may be …

Advent Day 16: Joy, As If.

Today's reading: Zephaniah 3:14-20The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. (v. 15b)Remember when "As if" was a complete sentence? It was the "what-ev-er" of the 1980s, a concise, cutting expression of derision and disagreement. A verbal roll-of-the-eyes.Today, as I think about the concept of joy, as …

Advent Day 13: Tears in the Wilderness

Today's reading: Luke 3:1-6The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:  (v. 4b)I've always read this description of John the Baptist as "calling out in a loud voice," imagining him with every stereotype I can summon: camel-shirted, bug-eating, wild-eyed, crazy-haired streetcorner preacher, completely unashamed of (oblivious to) his appearance or to how he is …

Advent Day 12: Being Completed

Today's reading: Philippians 1:1-11I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. (v. 6)Every Advent, we are traveling two roads at once.We journey toward Bethlehem with the family, the shepherds, the angels, the kings. With sheep and camels …

Advent Day 11: The Way of Peace

Today's reading: Luke 1: 68-79By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us... to guide our feet into the way of peace. (vv. 78-79)The way of peace is not Easy Street.Thank God for the Son of promise, who saves us still (and again and again) from the threats …

Advent Day 9: Being Prepared

Today's reading: Malachi 3:1-4We're not the only ones journeying ever closer to the day of Arrival. The Lord journeys too, seeking out the prepared pathway leading to incarnation, to humanity, to us and to our descendants.That path, though, is not just laid out for us (so we can walk alongside the Coming One), and is …