Advent Litany

See also ... Litany and Hope
I've learned ....
Some Aphorisms
Instructions for Life
Some Heinlein thoughts
Prayers in a time of Need
Free Will and the Omnipotence of God

Litany of Advent

There is a voice that cries in the wilderness,
the prophet word demanding change:
"Prepare ye the way of the Lord;
fill in the gullies, level the ridges,
straighten the crooked, move the mountains:
God's glory shall be revealed and every eye shall see it!" In the wilderness of our cities,
furrowed by freeways and shaded by skyscrapers,
where hollow people jostle without love
or get lost in the wastes of suburbia,
where anonymous persons hide in luxurious homes and rented rooms,
and broken men line up at shelters
for a bed and respite from dereliction --
Prepare ye the way of the Lord. In the wilderness of our religions
where theological fashions come and go,
buildings and crowds persist as symbols of status,
and pomp and circumstance are high on the ratings;
where evangelism can be considered poor taste,
prayer and sacrifice as optional extras,
and even Jesus is feared as "extremist" --
Prepare ye the way of the lord. Voice in the wilderness, what shall we do?
Prophet of the Lord, what is the word?
"Turn, turn, turn to the Lord:
you who have two suits, give one to the naked;
if you eat well, share with the hungry;
in business and authority, deal with compassion --
and be ready for the One who comes with fire."
From Bruce Pewer, in Bruce D. Pewer and Aub Podlich, Australian Accents (Lutheran Publishing House: Adelaide, 1988), p. 38.

Portions of the funeral services for my friends, Jane Heaton and Carol Thompson, and my brother, Peter Hackney, three killed by cancer in untimely season (cancer also killed my Mom at 64), and the service for my beloved father-in-law, Charles Robshaw, who died beautifully at 87½, and Helen Moore, similarly beautiful, arriving at rest in her 95th year.

Once I found out the secret of the Universe. I have forgotten what it was, but I know that the Creator does not take Creation seriously, for I remember that He sat in Space with all His Work in front of Him and laughed. -- Lord Dunsany, "The Hashish Man"

Visit some resources for Christian wisdom, the Waverly Presbyterian Church page, some idiosyncratic poetry pages, or return to the Boar Ring Page, Penn's personal home page, or the maintainer's site map.