Advent happens

 

When our usual preparations for Christmas

fail to lighten our spirits

God is still with us

When we find ourselves going through the motions

hiding well the hollowness within

God is still with us

Should the tree remain in storage

and the crib scene languish in its bubble wrap packing

God is still with us

The advent of God

does not rest on our preparedness

but on God’s gift of love and grace 

So - for those who are exhausted faking it

God is born for you.

For those who continue to put on a brave face

God is born for you.

God is born into the reality

of loss and grief

of anxiety and despair

God’s tears join ours in our yearning for those we love

And when we find ourselves on our knees

God squats down beside us

acknowledging our pain, 

embracing our weariness

enfolding us in love.

This Christmas, as every Christmas

We are invited to approach the manger as we are

in our frailty

and disappointment

in our questioning

and disillusionment

in our tiredness

and disorientation

We are invited to sit with the baby God

who inhabits vulnerability 

as a way of being

as a way of being real

as a way of being cradled in the love of God

as a way of knowing

God is born for you.

(Liz Crumlish December 2022)