Waiting and Watching

By -
Advent is a time of watching and waiting. Paying attention and being patient help us to see the beauty of a moment that otherwise would have been missed.


Yesterday Amy and I walked on the beach and saw a dark, stormy sky. As we walked the sky changed: just a hint of color below the clouds, a flicker of light on the horizon, then a fiery ball, and then a full blown firestorm of light. We stood there amazed along with others along the beach.


If Advent is a time of watching and waiting, what might we see if we stop and look? If we pay attention to what God was doing in the midst of our ordinary walking, celebrating, decorating, or worshipping during the season?

Below is a prayer that asks for God's blessing as we watch and wait for the coming of Jesus, the light of the world. 

--


God of the watching ones,
give us your benediction.

God of the waiting ones,
give us Your good word for our souls.

God of the watching ones, 
the waiting ones,
the slow and suffering ones,
give us your benediction,
Your good word for our souls,
that we might rest.

God of the watching ones, 
the waiting ones,
the slow and suffering ones,
and of all the angels in heaven,
and of the child in the womb,
give us your benediction,
Your good word for our souls, 
that we might rest and rise
in the kindness of Your Company.

"An evening prayer for blessing during Advent" from Celtic Daily Prayer

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Camino de Santiago Day Thirty-seven and Thirty-eight: We made it!

By -
Image
A Salceda to Santiago de Compostela We decided to walk 22km to the outskirts of Santiago and walk the last few kilometers in the morning. Neither of us could sleep, so we got up, packed our mochilas for the last time and walked to the old city at 5am. It was dark and rather than being joined by other pilgrims, we passed a few late night partiers and a woman walking her dog. It's not the entrance into Santiago we pictured, but we were all alone in the Praza do Obradoiro in front of the Cathedral. It was June 17 — thirty-eight days and 780 kilometers since we started May 11, in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. We were two of the first ten pilgrims in line for our compostelas , which meant we got tickets for a free lunch at the historic parador. Peter from Australia showed up and introduced us to Michael and Linda from Washington DC, who also got the lucky tickets. Peter also knew Ted and Darlene from Winnipeg, and gave them contact, since my phone died and we cou...
Read more

Trains, metros and automobiles

By -
Image
Transportation in Madrid is social and patterned. Passing through turnstiles you commit to a way of being together: elderly priority seating, stroller and mom, squeeze but respect space, make room for oncomers, commuters in their own Kindle world and young teenagers in packs without supervision. Although public transportation can be confining, there is also freedom and adventure. We are on the metro to the Chamartin station to catch a train to Segovia. Twenty euro round trip ticket on the high speed Ave , and we arrive in thirty minutes. Thirty years ago I remember getting to the station with my backpack, looking up to the salidas board and deciding where to go. Today we bought tickets at a kiosk with a card and selected our return tonight at 9:30. Then I wrote in my journal and fotos with my camera, saving three months of film rolls in an X-ray bag; today I blog and sacar fotos on my phone. I love the time on the train for reflecting, talking, eating without worrying about renti...
Read more

Edinburgh and the Northumbria Community, Part 2

By -
Image
The Village Cottages on Iona Hi there it's Amy here…I'm going to try my hand at the blogging this week. I think we left off at Iona… well we went on to Edinburgh by way of 2 ferries, a long bus ride, and 2 different trains. It was actually our hardest transition yet. Maybe it's because we have had a long string of traveling, maybe because Mike's allergies were the worst they have been so far, maybe it's b-cuz we paid double the fair for the bus ride as we should have (and couldn't get the refund), maybe it's b-cuz when we checked into our hotel in Edinburgh they had not received our online confirmation so we had to pay the higher price, or maybe we were just tired; maybe all of these! Anyhoo, we spent a few moments pouting …then pulled ourselves together and went out to tour the beautiful city of Edinburgh with our walking shoes on and our rain jackets handy. Amy in the Prison of War Edinburgh is a great city, one of my favorites so far, wi...
Read more