First Monday of Advent - C

Please read Psalm 23:3

going to bed each night

to regain strength

for the next day,

a hot shower

in the morning

to sting me awake,

pouring a bowl

of toasted oats (just

like the last 50+ years)

to energize me:

they are all second nature

to me by now.

but

carving out oases of silence

in an ear-shocked day;

letting your Word

edit my story;

searching for hope

amidst all those shelves

stocked with anguish;

all those dispositions

that could fill my emptiness:

keeping me from wandering

down the wrong alleys,

nudging me to follow Jesus

in paving the streets with justice,

joining the kids playing

hide-and-seek in the kingdom?

come,

Habit Shaker,

come and restore my soul.

(c) 2009 Thom M. Shuman