Category Archives: Advent

Advent 20: and earth shall melt away

…heaven cannot hold him,Nor earth sustain;Heaven and earth shall flee awayWhen he comes to reign…(Christina Rossetti, “In the Bleak Midwinter”) While fires burned, I retreatedto safer, internal climes, denying heat.Discomfort seemed unreasonable,inconvenient that we should be so troubled.Yet world rarely does as it’s told,pointing a finger at us as we point back at it.If worldContinue reading “Advent 20: and earth shall melt away”

Advent 19: No cry of distress in our streets

This we long for:homes of flourishing,hearts of abundance,generous speech and thoughts and hands, well-watered gardens and evening cool,children like olive plants,fruit in season and out,and ever fruitful words and deeds, no harvest passing empty,no word bringing blight,no failing crop or government,no cry of distress in our streets, and the will to will,the longing to long,theContinue reading “Advent 19: No cry of distress in our streets”

Advent 18: Longing

How long shall I long in vain? (Christina Rossetti, “Of Him That Was Ready to Perish”) And so we are not ready, too full of dross and dust, too much in need of refining fire to enter a purity our kind spoilt long ago. Nor is it ready for us, nor is the day ripe,Continue reading “Advent 18: Longing”

Advent 16: At that time I will bring you home

A nomad for much of my days, I confess the urge is strong now to stay put, to secure, to gather and store, to extend the barns for the coming drought. Where luxurious waste gathers in wardrobes and pantries, I long to play the rich fool and leave it be. Yet still the cloud getsContinue reading “Advent 16: At that time I will bring you home”

Advent 15: Over Jordan

I’m only going over Jordan,I’m only going over home.(“Poor Wayfaring Stranger”, trad.) Truth be told, I hardly think of it,the end of my roaming, except perhaps as sleep,or when, longing for an end to all ending things,I dream of new creations. Yetthe sum of my longing is not halfway close,bound as I am by myContinue reading “Advent 15: Over Jordan”

Advent 14: Last Things

You shall turn again to earth.(Christina Rossetti, “For Advent”) Before leaving for our new home, we takethe last year’s compost and distributerich, fermenting soil across our garden bed,while lawn – parched from summer – longs weakly for green.I too am parched and thoughmade of mud I cannot rest in dirtuntil the heat is passed.And soContinue reading “Advent 14: Last Things”

Advent 13: But I said, “I have laboured in vain”

The sun beating heavily on our heads, we feltthe agony of things straining against themselves,felt the longing but not the reward and grewweary of the day. When I spoke, it was gravel in my throat.“Show me,” I demanded, “the length of these days.Show me the end.” And the sundid not relent in its frenzied beamingwhileContinue reading “Advent 13: But I said, “I have laboured in vain””

Advent 12: You are in the wilderness

For Thou art in the wildernessDrawing and leading Thine Own love…(Christina Rossetti, “The Chiefest Among Ten Thousand”) The barren land will bear fruitbut now, in this waiting time, I must gowhere barrenness still lingersto meet with You who chose thisof all the compass points in creation,of every nook of the ever-expanding universe –chose this place,Continue reading “Advent 12: You are in the wilderness”