Prayers for Advent

This will be my fourth year posting weekly prayers on Prayers & Creeds. Today I posted my first Advent prayer of the season on the Prayers & Creeds blog. Below the prayer are additional links to some of my favorite Advent prayers posted in years past.

Advent Prayer for Hope

Lord Jesus Christ,

who is, who was, and who is to come,

we pray for the virtue of hope,

that amidst the trials and difficulties

of this world,

we may keep our hearts fixed

upon you, who reigns over the cosmos.

May your grace enliven us,

strengthen us,

and defend us,

as we await your coming in glory. Amen

~David Bennett

(Taken from: http://www.churchyear.net/adventprayers.html)

Prayer for Welcoming Advent

Advent Collect for Southern Hemisphere

Advent Prayer from Walter Brueggemann

Advent Prayer from Henri Nouwen

Awaiting the Christ 

Hope Revived

living the resurrection in kroo bay...

As I consider living the resurrection more fully, it is the example of my friends in Freetown, Sierra Leone who inspire me with the hope of new life they live out and share in the slum community of Kroo Bay. This article captures my own experiences in Freetown well and my admiration for Noah Tullay and the community there.

The Echo of a Saint: Signs of Hope in a Slum Community by Chris Heuertz

MLK..."the beloved community"

Unfortunately, The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. remains on my bookshelf still unread. Maybe I’ll get it read by MLK Day 2009? In the meantime, this morning I reread a chapter on Martin Luther King, Jr. in Philip Yancey’s book, Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived the Church. In the book, MLK is one of twelve mentors and spiritual directors who inspired and transformed Yancey’s life and work.

A couple quotes from MLK really stand out to me this weekend. Most of the civil right’s victories and progress did not come until after King’s death. Yancey tells the story of how Roy Wilkins of the NAACP kidded King that his methods of nonviolence had not achieved a single victory for integration in Albany or Birmingham. King responded with these words, “Well, I guess the only thing I’ve desegregated so far is a few human hearts.”

Ultimately, regardless of what laws and oppressive structures are changed, the real, lasting victories for reconciliation, forgiveness, and love must take root in human hearts. King goes on later to say the real goal is “to awaken a sense of shame within the oppressor and challenge his false sense of superiority…The end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community.”

This vision and truth of King's words and example challenge and inspire my own life today, as the themes of reconciliation and hope continue to take root this 2008.

PS - Here is a link to an excerpt from the book With Justice for All by John Perkins. "The book tells Perkins’ journey toward finding racial reconciliation even in turbulent times."

ambassadors of hope in kolkata

Tomorrow I am sharing with the “Women of Grace” prayer group at my church. I am sharing about what’s ahead for me in Buneos Aires, along my desire to understand more deeply and live more fully HOPE this 2008. I am grateful for examples of friends who serve as ambassadors of hope in places of desperate poverty and oppression. Today a link to an article written by Sarah Lance came my way. Sarah serves in Kolkata, India with WMF and is about restoring life and freedom in the lives of women in the red light districts. Sari Bari is the business initiative I have shared about often. Check out the Sari Bari web site to learn more. Sarah and the community in Kolkata continue to impact my life by their example and inspire me to be an instrument of hope!

Restoring Life in the Red Light Districts of Kolkata India
By Sarah Lance
http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/urban.php/884

Sari Bari Website:
http://www.saribari.com/