In this second week of Advent. Ps. 26 v. 1-3; Ps. 39 v. 12-13 (NRSV)
"Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my
integrity and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Prove me, O Lord,
and try me; test my heart and mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in faithfulness to you." Ps. 26 v. 1-3 (NRSV)
Such beautiful poetry we read and hear from the lips of David, ardent in his love for our God; fervent in his desire for righteousness and justice, he cries and pleads passionately to the Holy One. I feel much of myself in these few words. How often I reach out, sometimes even on hands and knees, in my walk with the Eternal, whispering of my own devotion and willingness to be proven, to be tried in the love I feel I know so well. Wanting, perhaps, much like children, for the approval and security of a parent.
This new year we find ourselves amongst speaks much to these opening words of the psalm, "Vindicate me, O LORD." For the year to come, for this season of renewal and arrival we find ourselves within, for just a little bit of hope in these desperate times. These are, indeed, desperate times. Advent, I believe, calls us not only to incarnation in the Son of God, the son of Mary but to the present moment we find ourselves in. This time of dwindling light and scarcity. A time where the cold is beginning to settle and the long seasons of plenty and harvest are behind us. Some of this does not ring as true this year, though it may be anyway. Summer and Spring are behind us, and Winter is approaching steadfastly. This pandemic only seems to be prolonging though talk of a vaccine is on the way, we are still in the thick of it and will be for much, much longer, and nothing will ever be the same again after this season.
And so, we await the coming of the time we may all be together again. Emmanuel, God with us, feels much more intimate than usual. We seek peace in this second week of Advent, as the second candle is lit, and we are drawn nearer and nearer to Christ. We hope for this peace, in this time of disturbance, this time of waning and wanting; this time of separation, and this time of grace.
“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not hold your peace at my tears. For I am your passing guest, an alien, like all my forebears. Turn your gaze away from me, that I may smile again before I depart and am no more.” Ps. 39 v. 12-13 (NRSV)
May it be, as with David, so with you and me.
-Kelsea Willis