Advent…Surprise!

It’s 5:00 a.m. I sit at the kitchen table, working I suppose. Well, I hardly call this working. My mind is pondering, wandering around from thought to thought, as I anticipate the dawn of a new day along this Advent journey. My pen is set to the page, yet I am open to transcribe what God wants to say. My heart is full of both fear and excitement. It is just so much bigger than me!

The Christmas Carol for today is “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” ( words, 15th century German translation by Theodore Baker, 1894)

“Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung! Of Jesse’s lineage coming, as those of old have sung. It came a floweret bright, amid the cold of winter, when half spent was the night.”

Here the coming of Christ as a baby is expressed in a surprising event of nature. A rose is blooming in the dead of winter. I love how God is so often revealed to us, speaks to us, through nature. This is is exactly what happened one night this past week in Houston, Texas. I awakened early in anticipation of watching the sunrise. I peeked out the window and “Lo, how a snow hath fallen! It came a blanket of white, amid some 70 degree weather, when half spent was the night.” It was almost eerie and somewhat supernatural…

The sunrise arrived like the cold metal of a knight in shining armor. It was a totally different sight than I had expected! I love how the light falls right into our back patio like a footprint saying, ” My Light has come to you…arriving right at your doorstep.”