Lux In Tenebris Lucet: Saturday, December 17
Day 20 of our 28-day Advent journey of mini-dispatches to give you pause and light.
“We broke from our moth husks alive in the night,
the sky smeared with stars we no longer see.
A child’s creed stitched on handkerchiefs—
God does not abandon us
we are all he knows.
We must not abandon him,
he is ourselves
the ether of our deeds.
The whistling hobo calls, sweeping time, sweeping time.
We sleep. We scheme, pressing the vibrant string.
Happily self conscious, we begin again.”
—Patti Smith from ‘The Long Road’ in her poetry collection Auguries of Innocence
“Oh! Teach us to live well!
Teach us to live wisely and well!
Come back, God—how long do we have to wait?—
and treat your servants with kindness for a change.
Surprise us with love at daybreak;
then we’ll skip and dance all the day long.
Make up for the bad times with some good times;
we’ve seen enough evil to last a lifetime.
Let your servants see what you’re best at—
the ways you rule and bless your children.
And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,
confirming the work that we do.
Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!”
—Psalm 90:12 (MSG)