A Journey Through Advent: Day 3
Day 3
December 1, 2020
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A Blessing and a Prayer for When the World is Ending
Rev. Kristen Koger
This blessing can be found in Jan Richardson’s book Circle of Grace.The prayer that follows was written by Rev. Kristen Koger.
“Blessing When the World is Ending”
“Look, the world is always ending somewhere.
Somewhere the sun has come crashing sown.
Somewhere it has gone completely dark.
Somewhere it has ended with the gun, the knife, the fist.
Somewhere it has ended with the slammed door, the shattered hope.
Somewhere it has ended with the utter quiet that follows the news from the phone, the television, the hospital room.
Somewhere it has ended with a tenderness that will break your heart.
But, listen, this blessing means to be anything but morose. It has not come to cause despair.
It is here simply because there is nothing a blessing is better suited for than an ending, nothing that cries out more for a blessing than when a world is falling apart.
This blessing will not fix you, will not mend you, will not give you false comfort; it will not talk to you about one door opening when another one closes.
It will simply sit itself beside you among the shards and gently turn your face toward the direction from which the light will come, gathering itself about you as the world begins again.”
– Jan Richardson
God of beginnings and endings, on this first week of Advent, we come to you searching for a small glimpse of hope. The world feels so heavy right now, God, and so we bring our tired, weary selves to you praying that there is still hope to be found.
So many things have been forced to stop, to end, to disappear this year. We’ve missed graduations and wedding receptions and vacations and gathering with friends and family. We’ve had to let go of all expectations and plans. Some of us have even felt like we’ve had to let go of what little hope we had left because it seems that every time we dared hope for something, it was snatched away from us/
But God, at this beginning Advent, a season of longing and waiting and anticipation, we do pray for hope. We pray that this season will give us not only permission to hope again, but we pray that our searching for hope will be lead to us rediscovering and believing in hope each time we look for it.
God, turn our faces from the darkness towards the light; turn our hearts from disappointment and towards happiness; turn our souls from despair and towards hope.
We know that you, O God, are still there, showing us glimpses of hope as long as we have the strength and courage to look for them.
We pray this in the name of the God who allows hope to spring eternal,
Amen.
About a Journey Through Advent
This year is unprecedented in its challenges to our global, national, and local communities, let alone the challenges to our own church community and personal spiritual growth. And yet, the rhythm of the church calendar continues to hold us in a life-giving refrain: hope is alive!
This series of devotional readings, scripture readings, and prayers is designed to give you an opportunity to pause and reflect on the hope, peace, joy, and love that the Advent season brings.
We challenge you to set aside time each day to read, reflect, and pray through these offerings presented by our pastoral staff.
May you find encouragement in the remarkable hope this season provides us!