Advent 3 | PREPARE
Christmas is nearly here. Are you ready? Two weeks before Jesus’ birth, Joseph and Mary made final preparations for the grueling winter journey ahead: 90 miles over unpaved, hilly trails on foot, from Nazareth to Bethlehem. They gathered their heavy woolen cloaks against the rainy, freezing weather, filled wineskins with water, packed as much bread and oil as they could carry. They prayed for God’s protection through the Judean desert, against the bandits, lions and bears they might face in the forested Jordan River valley. Surely they prayed that the baby would wait to be born, that Mary would survive the trial.
“Let every heart prepare him room.”
These days, as you go about your Christmas preparations – scrambling to make deadlines, standing in line at the post office, taking exams, making beds for houseguests, wrapping gifts – take your mind to a place of imagination.
Picture Mary and Joseph as they gathered provisions and set out (without a midwife or hotel reservation), not knowing what was to come. What prayers come up within you?
Open your eyes to neighbors who need your help right now. How might you provide for a vulnerable stranger in your own preparations for Jesus’ birth?
As you go about your tasks and to-dos, add in music, a podcast, intentional prayer to prepare your heart as well as your household. Here are a few of our favorites:
For all the generations
that have prepared the way;
for all the unseen hands
that have made ready
every space;
for those who light
the fires of welcome
and who tend
to every resting place,
O God of every pilgrim,
we bless you with our thanks.(Jan Richardson)