Advent Waiting (prayers, song)

“Whoever does not know the austere blessedness of waiting, that of hopefully doing without, will never experience the full blessing of fulfillment. … For the greatest most profound, tenderest things we must wait,” Bonhoeffer
https://cruxsolablog.com/2011/12/23/god-in-the-manger-bonhoeffer-on-advent-and-waiting/

This song is from the Advent collection ‘Waiting Songs’ by Rain For Roots.

When you write a letter to a friend
And you don’t when
You’ll hear back again
Well, it’s hard to wait
It’s hard to wait
So hard to wait

When the one you love
Leaves on a plane
And you know that she’ll
Come back someday
It’s hard to wait
It’s hard to wait
So hard to wait

There is gonna be a day
Every low valley He will raise
There is gonna be a day
Hills and mountains gonna be made plain
There is gonna be a day
Winding roads gonna be made straight
Comfort, comfort, comfort, comfort
It’s hard to wait
So hard to wait

When you plant a seed
In the garden bed
But you don’t see green
Growing up just yet
Oh, it’s hard to wait
It’s hard to wait

Comfort, comfort, comfort, comfort
It’s hard to wait
So hard to wait
There’s gonna be a day
But it’s hard to wait

Tag: There is gonna be a day
Every low valley He will raise
There is gonna be a day
Hills and mountains gonna be made plain
There is gonna be a day…

from Waiting Songs, released November 10, 2015
Written by Flo Paris Oakes (©2015 Flo Paris Music)

Get the song (or whole album, even better!) at
https://rainforroots.bandcamp.com/track/every-valley-its-hard-to-wait

image

(artist unknown)

A Community Prayer for Waiting

by Dan White Jr.

http://thev3movement.org/2015/12/why-wait/

When we are heavy with sorrow,
let us cling to a whispering hope.
When we are deep in the night,
let us not forget the light we’ve once seen.
When we are exhausted from waiting,
let us find strength in each other.

Like the Remnant of Israel, teach our hearts how to wait.

When we are hardened by conflict,
let love interrupt our bitterness.
When we are frightened by scenarios,
let us receive wisdom from each other.
When we are haunted by failures,
let grace heal our self-inflicted wounds.
When we are dismal and defeated,
let faith be our nourishment.

Like the Remnant of Israel, teach our hearts how to wait.

When we are weary and complaining,
let our hearts discover perspective.
When we are apathetic and clumsy,
let deep apologies flow from our lips.
When we are dashed by disappointments,
let us find footing to press forward.

Like the Remnant of Israel, teach our hearts how to wait.

We are sheep who wander in the waiting,
but the Shepherd knows our names.
We are strangers without a country,
but the Kingdom of God is our true home.

In this time of great meaning,
in the stillness of Advent,
birth new patience,
give us grace for the days before us.
In the name of the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Amen.

image

Advent banner from
https://tlgcconnections.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/fresh-waiting-resources-for-advent/

“Not everyone can wait: neither the sated nor the satisfied nor those without respect can wait. The only ones who can wait are people who carry restlessness around with them and people who look up with reverence to the greatest in the world. Thus Advent can be celebrated only by those whose souls give them no peace, who know they are poor and incomplete, and who sense something of the greatness that is supposed to come, before which they can only bow in humble timidity, waiting until he inclines himself toward us – the Holy One himself, God in the child in the manger. God is coming; the Lord Jesus is coming; Christmas is coming. Rejoice O Christendom.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
via Patrick Comerford’s blog and his Dec 2 Advent Devotional

In a sermon preached in Barcelona on the first Sunday of Advent, 2 December 1928, Bonhoeffer said:

“Celebrating Advent means being able to wait. Waiting, however, is an art that our impatient age has forgotten. It wants to break open the ripe fruit when it has hardly finished planting the shoot. But all too often the greedy eyes are only deceived; the fruit that seemed so precious is still green on the inside, and disrespected hands ungratefully toss aside what has so disappointed them.”

- h/t The Rev. Patrick Comerford in his Advent blog entry

Christine Sine offers this beautiful prayer and image as we wait in Advent anticipation:

image

http://godspace-msa.com/2014/12/08/in-this-season-of-waiting-breathe-in-life-an-advent-prayer/

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