Prelude

Luke 1:76

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

The Advance Party

Called to prepare the way

Not the one

But called to make the road smooth

What an awesome responsibility

To lay the groundwork

To blaze the trail

And then to step back

Slink into the shadows

Out of sight

There are few of us with grace enough

to be fore runners

Few of us who are skilled

at keeping out of the way

when the time comes

for another to step up

and continue the work that we have begun

We give thanks for prophets

For fore runners

For trailblazers

And pray for the grace

to be more like them

as we prepare the way

for Incarnation.