First Friday of Advent

But you, O Lord, are enthroned for ever;
your name endures to all generations.
You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to favor it;
the appointed time has come.
For your servants hold its stones dear,
and have pity on its dust.
The nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth your glory.
For the Lord will build up Zion;
he will appear in his glory.
He will regard the prayer of the destitute,
and will not despise their prayer.
Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:
that he looked down from his holy height,
from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die;
so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion,
and his praise in Jerusalem,
when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the Lord. (Psalm 102:12-22)

       looking
in this season of
                       silence,
       you look down to
                                             hear

not
the endless carols
                and songs repeated
                over and over and over;
not bells jingling
                emptily in the malls
                and stores;
not rhymes about
                reindeer and
                            rooftops;

but
the canticled cries
         of children whose
    bellies are full of the
          empty promises
          of politicians;
the whispers
       of mothers, hoping
    that the expected call
    from the doctor will
                 not be their
          worst fears;
the moans
       of people who
    discover that their
                     liberator
               has become
               the latest
            tyrant;

in this season of
                       silence,
    you look down to
                          see
if we
       are listening
    as well.

© 2012 Thom M. Shuman

'Bearers of Grace and Justice', liturgies with communion for Lectionary Year C; 'Pirate Jesus', prayers and poems for Lectionary Year C, are available at Amazon.