Dear Lord and Father
I thought the meditations for the Advent season blogs would be a continuation of the Thin Places. A look at the Thin Times and Places where God is found in the lives of those impacted directly by the Incarnation. In this busy season though, it occurs to me that what we may need more than words is quiet places and quiet times. I invite you to join me in praying through the hymn Dear Lord and Father of Mankind by John Whittier, a Quaker poet of the 19th century.
The first couple of verses are very appropriate for this first week of Advent. The season of Advent is theologically and liturgically a time when we are supposed to take time to turn back to God in preparation for the great gift of the Incarnation at Christmas.
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.
In simple trust like theirs who heard,
Beside the Syrian sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word,
Rise up and follow Thee.
Whittier invites us to repent so that we can go deeper into our relationship with God. We will then have a mind and life focused on God and filled with reverence and praise. He compares this type of life to the early disciples who heard Jesus say ‘follow me’ and left all and followed Him.
Too often the hustle and bustle of the season and
preparation for the 'big day' distract us from the real meaning of Advent. We
forget that we should take a few quiet moments to think about our relationship
with our Lord. If music helps you meditate on the hymn, here is one version of
it:
In this season of preparation, take a moment or more to consider what these 2 verses say to you. What is your ‘rightful mind’ toward God? Do you feel reverence and praise toward God? Are you ready to “without a word, rise up and follow” wherever God calls?
Next week, we’ll look at what the next couple verses might say to us this Advent.
