Slow us down, O Lord

I began the Advent season at Trinity CRC speaking about slowing down, about not letting the busyness leading up to Christmas rob us from experiencing this season’s significance. Being in a hurry will quickly wreck things any time of the year, but that seems especially true these days. In his book The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People, John Ortberg writes about how relationships require love, and “love and hurry are fundamentally incompatible. Love always takes time, and time is the one thing hurried people don’t have” (p. 81).

After speaking on this, someone emailed me this prayer originally from a group called Education for Justice. Consider praying it with me these next few days as Christmas approaches…

Slow us down, O Lord, this Advent,
so we may understand the darkness we are in,
the darkness of fear that comes with wanting more,
and the fear of having less.
Grant us the light of transformation,
as we wait for your true abundance –
the love of the Incarnation,
a love that brings us true dignity and security,
a love that embraces all, that enriches all,
that calls us all to share justly and celebrate joyfully.
–