An Advent Reflection by The Reverend Chris Luckraft, Partner Priest.
Read
Luke 1:76-end And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.
Reflect
Luckily, John was only a tiny babe and wouldn’t have understood what his father was saying about what he would be when he grew up. Imagine growing up knowing the incredible prophecy of your father, the weight of expectation that would be on your shoulders. To a much lesser extent , at this time of year, great expectations dominate so much of life – Christmas is coming, a time of happiness and fun, of family, and so on. But those expectations are rarely fulfilled to the hoped for extent – Christmas can be one of the most stressful times of the year and the time of many family breakdowns. What difference would it make to our lives if we allowed “the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Pray
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. -Reinhold Niebuhr
Act
Do something today that you might otherwise have left to the last minute, for example wrap some presents.
-The Reverend Chris Luckraft, Partner Priest.
You can read all of the Advent Reflections via the following link – Advent Reflections 2019.