December 14th, Advent Day 18
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins …
Having grown up a Presbyterian, part of my attraction to the Episcopal church was its more elaborate liturgy – including the code of symbolic colors for the seasons of the liturgical year. In those days, the color for Advent (as it still is for Lent) was purple. But as the focus for this season evolved from remorseful penitence to meditative preparation, the church shifted the associated tone to dark blue. And I find the lovely vestments and altar hangings at Emmanuel particularly suitable for deep reflection.
Still, the Collect for the Third Sunday of Advent does nudge us to recall our need for contrition and forgiveness: “Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins …” (I’ll share the rest of this prayer in a bit.)
During Week Three of Advent at Emmanuel, we’re asked to Look Again. I have to acknowledge that this practice strikes me in different ways at different times. When I look again at some of the wrong turns and unfortunate decisions I’ve made throughout many decades, I’m likely to feel uncomfortable and even guilty. How fortunate that we have a ritual like Confession, and a loving God to whom those confessional words are directed!
With certain parts of my past not erased but placed in a manageable context, I'm free to look again at the people and events, the challenges and blessings, that are immediately in front of me. My neighborhood has changed since we moved to this area in the early 90s – not just different folks in several houses, but that familiar refrain: “They cut down every tree in the woods next door, and put up three ugly boxes!” But look again: What pleasant surroundings. How nice to see more kids and dogs. “Our” pond may not be Walden, but it’s a nice little piece of water.
And those relationships with family and friends that I’ve too often taken for granted … Is it simply reaching “a certain age” that makes me appraise them now with renewed appreciation for their inestimable value? Has the pandemic helped me to look again with clearer sight? Whatever the case, I’m thankful that I can experience some measure of gratitude – and express some version of love – for these people who sometimes seem more like angels than human beings.
Thanks to my association with the faithful and dedicated members of the Outreach Committee, I’ve learned how to see anew our community – particularly those areas of Southern Pines that I was dimly aware of, yet had rarely driven through, never walked in, and whose residents I knew not at all. Our ministries with community partners have also forced me to look again inside myself, acknowledge some dark corners of ignorance, and start to discern how to let in some light.
As the Advent 3 collect concludes, “Let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.”