Advent – December 24, 2023

December 24, 2023

The Twenty Second Day of Advent

This morning, before light, my granddaughter came down to my apartment.  She had walked through the sitting room, and knocked on the bedroom door, simultaneously turning the doorknob.  And there she was.  How she knew it was the fourth Sunday in Advent I do not know, because she is only four years old.  But the first thing she said was, “Gram CeCe, it is time.  We can light all four candles today.”  Her enthusiasm was the only thing that brought me up, and out from under the warm covers, saying,  “Okay, let’s do this.”  I must have told her we would light all four candles in the circle yesterday.  However she knew, she knew.  She was taking a page out of my book, I thought.  So, I reciprocated with, “Let’s do this!”  A page I took from her book.  In the darkness, even before the tree lights were lit, we sat around the Advent wreath, she waiting eagerly, while I struggled with the match box.  Then it was done.  All four candles of Advent were shining brightly.  Before I could say or do anything she blurted out, not in a whisper, but in a statement, “I love you, God.”  I asked her if she was ready to sing.  To my surprise she replied, “No, we are done.”  So, we sat on the sofa, close as close could be.  I realized, in the quiet, that she was correct.  The best thing we could say was, “I love you, God.”  For that statement and belief is what led us throughout the season of Advent.  It was what led Mary, and Elizabeth, Zachariah, and Joseph.  It was faith, hope, trust, belief, and love of God.  And so, we arrive at Christmas Eve.  My heart is filled with quiet anticipation.

          On this twenty second day of Advent, 2023, the reading I have chosen is from Micah 5:2.

The Reading

December 24, 2023

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans^[a] of Judah, out of you will come for me     one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”  Micah 5:2