One of the most important aspects of our Advent journey is to be ready to receive the coming of Christ.  Our Christmas Carol is “Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates”, words by Georg Weissel, 17th century; translation by Catherine Winkworth, 1855. Psalm 24)

“Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates; behold, the King of glory waits; the King of kings is drawing near; the Savior of the world is here!  Fling wide the portals of your heart…”

When I think of “mighty gates” I remember walking through the entrance to the old castle in Heidelberg, Germany which sits high atop a hill overlooking the city….

The gates were massive, and the weight of their power was felt as one steps across the threshold.  Clearly these gates were not easily opened.  The Christmas Carol is calling for open doors, open minds, open hearts.  Sometimes massive doors have been shut tight for centuries.  Christ is coming to break through doors of oppression and injustice, doors of isolation and greed.

We are called to fling wide the portals.  I wonder….must our hearts be open before we are able to open our doors?  Or does the opening of our doors lead to the opening of our hearts?  Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?  This I do believe…the grace of God which enables the opening is present both ways.

Last summer we traveled through a small town in northern New Mexico.  It seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.  There was nothing for miles in either direction.  A blink of an eye might cause one to miss it.  Yet our eyes were wide open because we were hungry.  It was in this place that we found what I considered to be a treasure!

It was all about the doors!  The owners of this small, beautiful dining spot had transported doors from Mexico, each hand carved and painted by an artist. 

I absolutely fell in love with these doors as each one was a work of art. What spoke volumes was the fact that each door was open, bringing a warm welcome to anyone who might stop and enter. The whole place had flung wide the portals of its heart.  This hospitality put the entire village on the map in an otherwise dry, deserted place.  I will never forget!

nk

Pondering…

How shall we go about “flinging wide the portals” on this Advent journey?