Advent Hymn ... "We Watch, We Wait, We Hope, We Pray"

Advent is a wonderful season of the church year that can so easily lose its significance and impact. From mid October society is moving head on into celebration of the "holiday season". The notion of patiently waiting gets lost. And yet what a profound experience it can be to wait patiently to enter into the saving mystery of the incarnation, the birth of Christ.

Advent is about watching and waiting with anticipation and joy for the encounter we will have with God through the gift of Emmanuel, God with us. God's message to us is clear through a baby born in a humble stall. And yet, we've made it so complex with our desire to explain and understand every nuance of what this mystery is about.

It's really quite simple; God has made a promise and God does everything possible to fulfill that promise, including sending his Son to become incarnate as a human being to experience fully human life as we know it. All God asks of us is to prepare ourselves spiritually for the encounter which has the possibility to transform us and our very experience of life.

How often do we feel like we have to cope on our own; that we have the resources within us to make things right; that we can fix what's going on around us and the things that are happening to us. The Incarnation reminds us that we don't have to do that. God is at work in each of our lives, every moment of our lives, even and especially when we find it hard to see and recognize.

All we're called to do is watch, wait and pray because to be sure there will be a glorious day. What that will mean for sure, who knows. But in that moment, with eyes and ears open, and with hearts and souls ready to receive the gift in store for us, we will know that glorious moment and experience the profound joy that God has in store for us.

So let's do what God asks of us; simply, let's watch; let's wait; and especially, let's pray!!

I wrote this hymn expressing these themes for the Advent season of waiting and preparing. May it remind us that there's merit in being patient; what we receive will be more than we can ever ask for or imagine.

"We Watch, We Wait, We Hope, We Pray"

tune: St. Columba
Meter: 8787

We watch, we wait, we hope, we pray
there’s yet to be a glorious day;
God’s promise is from ages past
a kingdom that is sure to last.

The world has changed yet stayed the same
despite the fact that Jesus came.
God sent Him with a message clear
God’s Kingdom is forever near.

Yet we as humans fail to know
as faithful we are called to grow;
the blessings of our faith and hope
as day to day we strive to cope.

God’s love and mercy, peace and grace
are gifts we’re offered to embrace.
The birth of Christ we’ll celebrate
new life, new hope God does create.

Unfolding mystery divine
a story that is yours and mine.
we watch, we wait, we hope, we pray
there’s yet to be a glorious day!

Text: copyright, The Rev. Mark Kinghan, 2011. Not to be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express written permission of the author.