Day 3: Sitting Vigil...

The seventh, and final antiphon for this season:

O Immanuel, You are our King and judge, the One whom the peoples await, and their Saviour.

O come and save us, Lord, our God.

O come, O come, Immanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns

in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear:

Rejoice! Rejoice! IImmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

What are you waiting for this day before Christmas Eve? Are our longings in alignment with our values? Do our values reflect the faith that we profess? I use “our” and “we” with intention, because my decisions impact you. And your decisions impact me. We are in this together. We are made of clay, bound to make mistakes. Making mistakes is normal. Failing to wrestle with ourselves, acknowledge our limitations, is a pathway to captivity.

Maybe there are some things about ourselves that need mourning. Ok, we can wait quietly and patiently for those who mourn to mourn. We can sit vigil. But we must hold onto hope, sometimes carrying theirs and ours. Or, maybe someone is carrying our hope. God continues to provide ways for the banished to re-enter the circle of life. Let us make it easy for each of us to do so.

Day 4: Made for Lovingkindness

The sixth antiphon:

O King whom all the peoples desire, You are the cornerstone which makes all one.

O come and save us whom You made from clay.

O come, Desire of nations, bind all peoples in one heart and mind.

Bid the strife and quarrels cease.

Fill all the world with heaven’s peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

What if we woke up one morning and realized that we were created for lovingkindness? What if we knew in that totally immersive way of knowing that changes EVERYTHING, that every bit of strife we sow, every quarrel we engage in, is toxic to our bodies, minds and spirits?

Would we make more effort to refrain from disagreements? Would we curb our tongue and engage our helping hands? What would we do differently?

When my mother died, my brother and I came to know that we could not live and continue down a path of strife and quarrels. We gave up. We ceased our efforts to be heard and known. Our bodies felt like they were covered with third degree burns, cinged to the bone from the flames of a constant battle for love and mutual respect. He and I agreed that a raised voice was almost more than we could bear. Any raised voice. An angry voice was more hurtful than a Virginia loss to a rival team in basketball in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Yes. That bad.

There will be tough, tough decisions that will need to be made in order to cease our strife and quarrels. Relationships may need to end in the traditional way we think of them. We may need to learn to love from afar.

But love is the thing. It’s just really, really hard to know how to love at times.

God is making all one. He is saving us whom he made from clay. We do not have to save, or change, or expect things from others. But we are also given this great gift, which only we can open and use. We are given the gift of self-respect and dignity. We are not required to suffer for the wrong reasons - out of a sense of loyalty, or dependence. Where lovingkindness cannot thrive, we are given the opportunity to bid farewell to strife and quarrels.

As we anticipate the coming of Christ, consider what you might have to withdraw from in order to live in a land that is welcoming to the Lord.

Day 5: Comfort and Cheer

The fifth antiphon:

O Rising Sun, You are the splendour of eternal light and the sun of justice.

O Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here;

disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight:

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

During stressful seasons it is natural to fall back into living by the law of scarcity. It will require a conscious effort on our part to remember that the cheer we might bring springs from the original source - God himself. We do not have to give away that which we do not have or will never possess. But we are given the opportunity to recognize the gifts of light God is providing for us day in and day out.

At night, it is hard to remember such things. Our anxiety creeps up on our quieting mind. Fears run rampant. It’s not just children who fear the monsters in their closet.

So in the daylight, we must run with some degree of haste to comfort and cheer those around us. No comfort and cheer in your heart? No worries! Practice it anyway. You were never the source!

Day 5: Comfort and Cheer

The fifth antiphon:

O Rising Sun, You are the splendour of eternal light and the sun of justice.

O Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here;

disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight:

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

During stressful seasons it is natural to fall back into living by the law of scarcity. It will require a conscious effort on our part to remember that the cheer we might bring springs from the original source - God himself. We do not have to give away that which we do not have or will never possess. But we are given the opportunity to recognize the gifts of light God is providing for us day in and day out.

At night, it is hard to remember such things. Our anxiety creeps up on our quieting mind. Fears run rampant. It’s not just children who fear the monsters in their closet.

So in the daylight, we must run with some degree of haste to comfort and cheer those around us. No comfort and cheer in your heart? No worries! Practice it anyway. You were never the source!

Day 6: Small, Gentle Steps

The fourth antiphon:

O Key of David and sceptre of israel, what You open, no one can close again;

what You close, no one can open.

O come to lead the captive from prison;

free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

O come, Though Key of David, come, and open wide our heavenly home;

make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery:

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

As we light our collective candles from our socially distanced homes, how do we grapple with our responsibility to lead captives from prison? The most logical place to start would be to acknowledge the prisons we know. What prisons have we lived in?

Struggled with depression? How can we advocate for the depressed?

Know the debilitating effects of anxiety? How do we support and encourage calm, peace and serenity in the world?

Know first hand the ravages of substance abuse? How do we support recovery?

So often we believe that our work should be high falutin’ and beyond our personal experience. This is not so!

Tonight, think about your own seasons of darkness, your own times of living in the shadow of death. If you are still there, right now, this minute, who can you reach out to for support? But if you are not, who are you loving, who is where you once were?

Small. Gentle. Next right steps.