Rev’d Beth Glover’s Advent Thoughts and Prayers 2025 🙏
These thoughts are not to be read instead of your usual Bible reading if you do that. Just spend a moment with a cup of tea ☕️ or coffee each day and focus, amidst all of the pressure, on Jesus Christ and our response to his love for us in our lives. If you want, light a candle 🕯️ each day as you make your space with God as this Advent we journey into light.
The Approach to Christmas
Well the pace is hotting up now isn’t it? Soon though, all this frenetic pace will be over and we will be overwhelmed instead by the sales and next year’s holiday adverts!
But for us still on our journey towards the light this Christmas, we are surrounded on our path by such a wonderful group of people. We know that we are almost there now. Just a final hill to climb and already at the top of the hill in front of us we can see a star, so bright, so distinct, hovering gently in the clouds above………it has not stopped yet. It is still hovering and moving, almost as if it is waiting. And then, such a strange thing happens. Almost without warning, angels appear.
Two very beautiful ones, not with wings and halos, but bright shining beings with very deep but silvery voices. They are standing either side of the path, and as you walk past them, they acknowledge you and smile.You look down at yourself. Your journey this Advent has left you a little tired, a little dirty and unkempt, but ready to greet the Messiah with all of your being.
You have learnt much about yourself and about other people. As you have walked you have shrugged off and moved through the darkness that surrounded you at the beginning of your journey and you are now on the outskirts of the most brilliant light. That light is the glory of God!“Do you believe?” the angels ask as you move past them.“ Do you believe and yet you have not yet seen?”
You reply that you do. “I believe. Help now my unbelief”.
THOUGHT: My very favourite picture of the nativity is Botticelli’s ‘the Mystic Nativity’. It sets the whole nativity scene within the context of dance.
There are 4 layers.
- The top layer is 12 (a highly significant number in the New Testament) angels flowing and flying together in a circle, clasping hands in graceful joy and releasing flowers as they dance.
- Below these are 3 angels, kneeling on the roof of the stable in a small circle, touching hands.
- Then Mary standing over the baby who is reaching out to her. Joseph is crouched on the floor with 2 angels ministering to those who have come to worship in the stable.
- And finally, underneath the stable scene, 3 more angels embrace those outside in gestures which themselves seem part of the dance, these represent us who are outside time.
At the birth of Jesus, I love to believe that the whole of heaven and earth were caught up in this heavenly dance, for heaven and earth were rejoined and embraced at this time.
Everything was lifted by divine music and we too are invited to live our lives in the grace of God, in harmony with God’s love.
PRAYER: Holy Trinity, help me to dance to the beat of your heart. Let it begin now as Christmas approaches. The beat of the world is too fast, the beat of my own heart is often out of beat with yours. Come to me now Lord and create in me your heavenly sounds. Amen PS. Stop me always from wanting to play percussion!