⁴ I ask only one thing, Lord:
Let me live in your house
    every day of my life
    to see how wonderful you are
    and to pray in your temple.

⁵ In times of trouble,
    you will protect me.
You will hide me in your tent
    and keep me safe
    on top of a mighty rock.

⁶ You will let me defeat
    all of my enemies.
Then I will celebrate,
    as I enter your tent
    with animal sacrifices
    and songs of praise.

⁷ Please listen when I pray!
    Have pity. Answer my prayer.
⁸ My heart tells me to pray.
I am eager to see your face,
⁹     so don’t hide from me.
I am your servant,
and you have helped me.
    Don’t turn from me in anger.
You alone keep me safe.
    Don’t reject or desert me.
¹⁰ Even if my father and mother
should desert me,
    you will take care of me.

¹¹ Teach me to follow, Lord,
and lead me on the right path
    because of my enemies.
¹² Don’t let them do to me
    what they want.
People tell lies about me
    and make terrible threats,
¹³     but I know I will live
    to see how kind you are.

¹⁴ Trust the Lord!
Be brave and strong
    and trust the Lord.

Advent – a light, a path, a waiting…

Maggi speaks of Christmas and Easter not necessarily chiming with our mood.  That is something I can identify with.  The world seems to want to party, for so many that is painful, there is little to party about.  People are missing, people are there that we don’t want to be, there is not enough to go round, someone is not well enough, things have not turned out as we hoped…

There is so much expectation piled onto Christmas Day, for some, all we want to do is mourn.  And yet, it is the celebration of the birth of our Saviour.  And  there are lovely parts too.  A very mixed day.  So in some ways it is difficult to look forward in anticipation, to a day you really aren’t looking forward to at all.

Maggi reminds me,

God’s gifts do not always come according to our timetable or at the moment we think we need them.  Advent and Christmas promise us God’s presence, and yet it seems that sometimes God hides his face and is nowhere to be found (p14)

And perhaps that is the point.  God is there whether I realise it or not.  Whether he’s where I’m looking or not.  He just is there.  Whatever my emotions, my pains, my fears – God is there.  (And I love Auntie Margaret!)

And to the one who’s time is always right

Thank you Lord,
that your timings are not mine
you are not tied by our customs,
but you are with us
when the time is right
and when it isn’t,
when I think you’re hiding
and when I don’t,
when I want to party
and when I want to cry

Thank you
that you remain
the light,
the path,
the thing I am waiting for

This year, several of us are reading Beginnings and Endings by Maggi Dawn and joining together to comment on it.  Do join us at the Adventbookclub Facebook page, follow #adventbookclub on Twitter or comment below.  If you are also reading and blogging on this book, let me know and I will link to your blog.