A Prayer for the Season of Advent

Often the work of theology (thinking and talking about God) comes in the form of prayer. Some prayers are spontaneous, that is to say, they come off the top of your head. I suspect, however, that all spontaneous prayer is actually not spontaneous at all but derived from deeper ongoing thought and reflection. Thus for me, a prayer I pray spontaneously is merely a verbalized form of written prayer. For me written prayer is a discipline for fleshing out what it is I want to say to God and at times, what I hear God saying to me. I wrote the following prayer for this Sunday's worship:

Lord, you come to us in the most simple yet beautiful of ways,

As an innocent, needy infant!

We thank you for this season of Advent,

For a time of waiting and eager anticipation.

This season has become such a frenetic

and much hyped holiday extravaganza!

What began with a baby born in a stable 2000+ years ago,

has been morphed into an onslaught of sale slogans promising to capture the essence of love itself, in a piece of jewelry, clothing, or toy.

Surely those of us who bear the name “Christ-ian”

know that in fact these extravagances have little or nothing to do with the birth of Christ. 

Its almost as if we’ve become so ill at ease with the sacred,

That we must find some way to gut it of anything holy. Only then, absent of holy fire can we wrap it up and give it away, as if it were ours to give.

We fail to realize that the gift of your love and grace in Jesus

would cost us everything we have and are, and yet it still wouldn’t be enough.

God, guide us past the check out lines, artificial trees, and blaring carols; take us to the simplicity of the Nativity,

And open our eyes to the mystery of your presence with us.

Remind us that only when we carry the grace of your son,

Jesus, in our hearts, and share your gift with others,

Do we truly celebrate Christmas.

Only then will we truly adore you.