For K&L
And all those who love them.
This advent finds me with open hands
In one, is hope & faith in all I know He can do
In the other, is grief & reality
Bitter things stacked one upon the other.
This advent smells of myrrh and aloe
Precious spices for celebration & healing
Gifts worthy of a newborn King
Dignified adornments among linens at death.
This advent is torn between joy & sorrow
There is beauty & love - but also a deep ache
The orange-clove-cinnamon scents drift
Across the pain inside me.
This advent whispers life & death
It is a time for holding diverse & contradictory emotions
Sorrow mingles with the serenity of white lights
Joy echoes in a well-known carol.
This advent pulses love & melancholy
Our breath catches in a message sent
Our heart is grounded in the symbolism of the evergreen
It is a holy & hopeful, scary & sacred time.
This advent draws me to both the promise & pain of waiting
Waiting for life, waiting for a Savior
Praying for miracles & hope & fresh chances
Being silent in the wait, expectant in love.
This advent lays a heavy blanket on us
We struggle with doubts, things that don´t make sense
We wrestle, we weep, we embrace
And Emmanuel has come and sits with us.
This advent has Him close to the broken-hearted
He weeps among us & takes our burdens
There is only One who can carry this kind of advent -
The One who smells of myrrh & aloe.
Photo: Jannis Andrija Schnitzer
