What is Your Heart's Deepest Longing?

We wait in the silence of a new season / moving from spring to summer
from Pentecost to Advent / from busyness to quiet.
 
We crouch with Mary on the straw of our messy lives / letting go of everything but this moment.
 
We breathe in organic and homely smells / we breathe out the impulse to push, to rush
to stock up, to plan, to get things done
—and we wait. We wait. / We listen.
It is not yet time for labour.
 
This is the hour of rest. / This is the time for silence, breathing,
Gestation / of a nascent, quickening Christ.
    —“Advent Prayer” by Bronwyn  Angela  White

This poem by Bronwyn Angela White reminds us that weeks leading up to Christmas are not meant to be hectic and busy.  They are meant to be quiet and deeply centered—focused on the sacredness of this very moment—messiness and all.  We might want to push and rush, struggle, stock up, and plan.  But here—in the midst of all the lights and glitter, advertisements and pressure to do more—we are meant to simply wait.  To open our eyes.  To lean in with an ear.  To rest.  While many around us hurry around carrying bags and bags of urgency, let’s just breathe.  And wait.  And hope.  And listen to our hearts.  What is your heart’s deepest longing?

See you in church,
Christy