dark night

Breath Prayers for the Rest of Us: Advent Christ

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Breath prayers for the rest of us…

…the rest of us…
…who have waited… and waited… far longer than we wanted or was comfortable.
…who have mourned and are still mourning… and may never stop mourning because letting go of the grief feels like a betrayal of all we’ve lost.
…who are struggling… with depression, anxiety, chronic pain and terminal illness… or maybe… just life.
…who feel unseen… unheard… misunderstood… forgotten… by others… by God.
…who have prayed all the prayers and have simply run out of prayers… whose prayers have been reduced to silence.

…if you feel lost, invisible or engulfed by pain… these prayers are for you.

The people who walked in darkness
 have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
Isaiah 9:2 ESV

As we have journeyed through Advent, we have been reminded that this is a season of waiting in darkness. Our first week we lit a candle of Hope. Then, a candle of Peace. Then, the candle of Joy. This past Sunday, we lit the candle of Love, and today we light the final candle to push back the darkness… the Christ candle.

How does Christ come and meet us in the seasons of the dark wintering of our souls?

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Breath Prayers for the Rest of Us: Advent Joy

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Breath prayers for the rest of us…

…the rest of us…
…who have waited… and waited… far longer than we wanted or was comfortable.
…who have mourned and are still mourning… and may never stop mourning because letting go of the grief feels like a betrayal of all we’ve lost.
…who are struggling… with depression, anxiety, chronic pain and terminal illness… or maybe… just life.
…who feel unseen… unheard… misunderstood… forgotten… by others… by God.
…who have prayed all the prayers and have simply run out of prayers… whose prayers have been reduced to silence.

…if you feel lost, invisible or engulfed by pain… these prayers are for you.

The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
    on them has light shone.
Isaiah 9:2 ESV

As we journey through Advent, we are reminded again that it is typically described as a season of waiting. Even more so, as a season of waiting in darkness. Our first week we lit a candle of Hope. Last week we lit another candle, a candle of Peace. This week we light another candle to push back the darkness… the candle of Joy.

Not sure about you, but joy in seasons of darkness can seem not merely impossible, but unreasonable. Is it even reasonable to seek joy in the midst of great pain?

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Breath Prayers for the Rest of Us: Advent Peace

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Breath prayers for the rest of us…

…the rest of us…
…who have waited… and waited… far longer than we wanted or was comfortable.
…who have mourned and are still mourning… and may never stop mourning because letting go of the grief feels like a betrayal of all we’ve lost.
…who are struggling… with depression, anxiety, chronic pain and terminal illness… or maybe… just life.
…who feel unseen… unheard… misunderstood… forgotten… by others… by God.
…who have prayed all the prayers and have simply run out of prayers… whose prayers have been reduced to silence.

…if you feel lost, invisible or engulfed by pain… these prayers are for you.

The people who walked in darkness
 have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
 on them has light shone.
Isaiah 9:2 ESV

As we journey through Advent, we are reminded that it is typically described as a season of waiting. Even more so, as a season of waiting in darkness. Last week we lit a candle of Hope. This week we light another candle… two candles now pushing back the darkness. A candle of Peace.

But where is peace in the darkness?

Peace is really hard to come by in the midst of dark seasons in our journey. Especially when we strive against the disorienting uncertainty of darkness. In my darkest places, striving might’ve been an understatement. I was fighting back… swinging punches into the darkness as if my life depended on it… but never hitting a thing. At the end of that fighting… that wrestling… came pure exhaustion… but then, surprisingly, peace. Settling in like a blanket of snow that comes silently falling through the night. I awakened to the blinding white of winter, shut my eyes, and waited… and, somewhere in the midst of that winter season, found my breath again. It was there… waiting for me all along… waiting for me to stop long enough to find it once more.

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Breath Prayers for the Rest of Us: Advent Hope

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Breath prayers for the rest of us…

…the rest of us…
…who have waited… and waited… far longer than we wanted or was comfortable.
…who have mourned and are still mourning… and may never stop mourning because letting go of the grief feels like a betrayal of all we’ve lost.
…who are struggling… with depression, anxiety, chronic pain and terminal illness… or maybe… just life.
…who feel unseen… unheard… misunderstood… forgotten… by others… by God.
…who have prayed all the prayers and have simply run out of prayers… whose prayers have been reduced to silence.

…if you feel lost, invisible or engulfed by pain… these prayers are for you.

The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
    on them has light shone.
Isaiah 9:2 ESV

Advent is typically described as a season of waiting. Even more so, as a season of waiting in darkness. The first week of Advent, a single candle is lit… a single candle pushing back the vast, encompassing darkness. This candle represents hope.

In seasons of darkness, silence and waiting, hope doesn’t come easy or cheap. Hope is costly. Hope stands when it feels like sinking. Hope reaches when it would rather withdraw. Hope keeps moving forward… even into the most mundane acts of ‘normalcy’… whatever that is. Hope keeps on hoping, even when all seems hopeless.

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