December 21st

“But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’” Matthew 1:20

God, those pesky angels
keep showing up at the
most inconvenient times.
we lay out the long-range
plans for retirement, and bam!
one shows up and says,
pack up everything and move
where you don’t know anyone.
and every time one of them
appears to someone
they trot out the company line,
“hey, don’t worry . . .
there’s nothing to be afraid of,’
which usually means ones
world is going to be turned
inside out and just get over it.
and you wonder why
we have so much trouble
falling asleep at night.
but before we make that foolish resolution
to stay awake the rest of our lives,
remind us that you whisper
in our sleep, so that we can carry
grace into the daylight.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 20th

"For he delivers the needy when they call,
    the poor and those who have no helper.
He has pity on the weak and the needy,
    and saves the lives of the needy.
From oppression and violence he redeems their life;
    and precious is their blood in his sight." Psalm 72:12-14

we long to hear the footfalls
of compassion from those
in power in our time, but they
stomp around in their hubris and might.
so as we wait in this waiting time,
come
to those small places where cries
slip through the cracks of our apathy.
come
to the ones whose backup plan is simply hope,
to children who learn to offer their fears
in prayer before they can give thanks,
to the exhausted who feast of loneliness.
come,
not because they are so needy
but because they are so loved by you.
come,
because your sole role in life
is to carry the broken,
to unclench fists of violence,
to restore those we write off.
come,
because every life is treasured
every breath is sacred
every brokenness is cradled.
come,
so we might wait
not with closed souls and hands
but with open eyes and hearts,
so we might see justice
wrapped around a refugee baby,
discover love walking our neighborhoods,
hear hope crying out,
and we might be the answer.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 19th

“On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
   Do not fear, O Zion;
   not let your hands grow weak.” Zephaniah 3:16

“do not fear”—
how many ways,
how many times
have you encouraged us,
dear, dear God,
not as an order to be obeyed
but a whispered promise
into our trembling lives
in this season when our legs
lock up from waiting so long,
we teach our hearts that
ancient language of caution
to which you respond not with words,
but music hummed in our ears.
for this is not a season
for fixing everything. Advent
simply arrives and then stays
right there in the middle
of all our fears, refusing to leave
so we might realize that hope
is holding our weakening grip,
that you are not looking
from a galaxy far, far away
but here, in those elbows
we bump in the stores,
there in the wide eyes
of excited children,
there in that future we have
already plotted out so carefully,
and rewriting it with your
faithfulness.

(c) 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom Shuman

December 18th

“He brought me out into a broad place;
    he delivered me, because he delighted in me” Psalm 18:19

we can see it now,
God who does cartwheels
whenever you see us—
that rich meadow where
we can sing and dance,
feast and frolic
to our heart’s content
simply because of who we are.
so help us to recover
from the whiplash to our souls
when we see you walking
straight past our privilege,
to enter the shadowed alleys
of despair because you delight
in the panhandlers we avoid,
when you rejoice in the
asylum seekers because they
gladden your heart with that
gritty tenacity to find hope,
when you are beguiled by all
who turn their back on the world’s
siren call to become influencers
but who birth you in their lives
of service, love, justice, and peace
just like on that night so long ago.

(c) 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 17th

“Our God comes and does not keep silence,” Psalm 50:3a

not just in the thunder
but in the soft drips of rain,
not only in the fire
but in the dying embers,
not just in the words,
but in the breath between them,
you come.
whispering of mercy when
arrogance mocks devastating loss,
singing hope into the empty
house locked behind grief,
breathing your light into
all the long nights of living.
for Advent is not about
our shouting for God, but
God’s quiet insistence
that love is not out there somewhere
but in the pauses between heartbeats
that justice is strong enough
to gather all those we scatter,
that peace is gentle enough
to be born among us.
may we listen for the One
who comes in this moment
every moment—
dwelling in us, so we
will refuse to remain silent
when the world needs grace so much.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 16th

“Be silent, all people, before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.” Zechariah 2:13

how can we hear
the sobs of children
as they wonder where
they will sleep each night
if we have cruelty’s volume
turned up so high?
how can we listen
to the loneliness of folks
sitting behind the windows
illuminated not by holiday lights
but that single candle in memory,
when our devices keep dinging
reminders of the latest outrageous
comments of the arrogant?
how can we discern where
we might be able to find
the neighborhood needing justice
the friend who longs for a hug
the refugee who is trying
to figure out our traditions
if we are having the same
tired political argument
with a co-worker?
gift us with silence
in this season, coming God,
so that we may hear your
gentle footfalls as you leave
holiness to become human.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 15th

“I have not hidden your saving help within my heart,
     I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
     from the great congregation.” Psalm 40:10

i could keep hope
shoved in my back pocket
or fold up mercy so tight
that it can’t be opened,
but instead,
i will whisper them
into the long, weary dusk of Advent,
where the world waits
with worn-out souls
and hands empty of grace.
for faithfulness is not
an ornament to come out
only for a short time each year—
it walks with the forgotten,
shares warmth with the cold,
whispers words of welcome
to the grieving and lonely,
teaches the alphabet of love
to all beginners.
your coming to us
was not delayed by shadows
nor deterred by doubt.
and so, once again, we wait,
not just in silence
but singing of hope,
not just in stillness
but working for justice
with everyone, for everyone,
everywhere.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 14th

“So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.” 2 Thessalonians 2:15

getting just the right tree
decorating it on the same day
placing each ornament in its special place
making cookies or bread or Yule logs—
heirlooms like these are what
carry this holy season from one year,
and one generation, to the next.
yet,
seeing the holy family
in refugees looking for a home
or immigrants forced to flee their countries.
listening to the stories
of the unskilled folks around us
who want to share the love
which they have just witnessed.
discovering that the wisest
among us just may be those
neuro-divergent folks taking
different roads than the ones
we have planned for them.
hearing the joy in the little kids
who sing too loud, off key,
or with words they made up
in the pageant or holiday show—
all seem to be traditions
we have little interest
in receiving or passing on.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 13th

“But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:13

in these days which supposedly
are short, and it seems a sprint
to get everything done in time,
Jesus reminds us—
endurance is not a mad dash,
bit a slow, steady pace into grace.
so, may we learn to wait
not with clenched stomachs
and aching backs, but with
our hearts cracked like branches
on a winter tree in the yard,
trusting that even in the chill,
love still rises,
as we endure by simply
lighting candles as tiny resistance
to the shadows of cruelty,
working for hope in those places
where hope can find no open doors.
and so we will keep watch—
for every flicker of faith,
every footstep of mercy,
every flutter of goodness
as we wait for the One
who comes not for the winners,
but for the tenacious, the worn-out,
the ones who will not give up
on loving
on believing
on hoping
as we hold our hands out
in the shadows of life
and finding God’s hands
ready to grasp ours.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 12th

“For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'" Matthew 23:39

in the fellow
who goes out and buys
a tree for the widow next door
and then decorates it top to bottom,
we see the one who comes in
love.
in those folks
who place themselves
between their neighbors
and the ICE-cold hearts of cruelty,
we see the ones who come in
justice.
in families
who set aside their grief
and stand on street corners
witnessing for an end to gun violence,
we see the ones who come in
peace.
in the young people
who refuse to accept the notion
that nothing they do
might reverse climate change,
we see those who come in
hope.
even if, especially when,
we never pay attention,
you come to us,
again and again,
and we are blessed.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 11th

“For God alone my soul waits in silence,
     for my hope is from him.” Psalm 62:5

Advent seems like a long season
of dusk, as the world fidgets
while shadows grow long.
should we stay still,
we might notice, in the hush
between worry’s heartbeats,
you leaning close, reminding us
hope is not something we build,
but that gift falling gently
like snow on open hands.
as we try to learn
how to breathe again,
may we trust the light
slowly coming toward us,
cradling the fragile dawn
you shape each morning.
and in the stillness,
we discover you
making us new
in that holy space
left behind as our fears
drift away like chaff.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 10th

“The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted." Matthew 23:11-12

the shadows grow longer
than our patience in these shorter days,
but Jesus slips in, cupped hands holding a candle,
whispering that greatness
comes not in strident boasting
but in quiet kneeling with a towel and basin.
not in the bright lights of celebrity
but in the shadows, talking with
the rough sleepers in the wee hours.
this is the upside-down promise
Advent brings to us
that those left in the dust of power
we are to carry
to meet a tiny baby,
that the humble who ignore
the seat at the head table
will find their true place
in the straw-lined streets of Bethlehem.
hile others try to find
the tallest ladders of privilege,
may we walk past them,
taking those insignificant steps
toward the grieving,
toward the lonely,
toward the broken,
toward the feeding trough—
guided by the star of humility
lighting our way to life.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 9th

“Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
    righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
    and righteousness will look down from the sky.” Psalm 85:10-11

sometimes, they are like
young lovers, who cannot see
anyone else around them, as
every moment is taken up
in trying to discover every facet
of the other who attracts them so.
sometimes, they are like
those couples who have known
each other so long, and so well,
they can finish the sentences
the beloved starts.
sometimes, they are like
that pair of folks we see each day,
walking hand in hand, making
sure that the other does not fall,
those vows they spoke so long ago
shining through every white hair,
every wrinkle on the face, every
creak and crack in old bones.
but in every time,
they are the constants of our lives,
modeling the gift and the grace
and the grit of your peace and mercy,
your faithfulness and love,
which came in that thin season
of hope so long ago, and comes
once again, in the soft companionship
we need in these days.

(c) 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman 

December 8th

“’Look! He is coming with the clouds;
   every eye will see him,’” Revelation 1:7a

we lie on our backs
gazing at the clouds,
hoping we can be the first
to catch a glimpse of you
starting your gentle glide to us,
but perhaps
we should be noticing
the person sitting on the steps
with the weather-worn and
stained-from-rejection military jacket,
hoping someone might buy
him a meal or a room for the night.
or watch the teenagers who refuse
to let the powerful use their mates
as scapegoats to justify their fears,
their prejudices, their self-righteous
piety which makes them faith superheroes.
we spend so much time
longing to see you as
a star falling out of the sky,
that we cannot see you
among us, even if you stuck out
your grace and tripped us.


© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 7th

“The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind,” Psalm 110:4a

we are people who change
our minds as often as we change channels,
and whose promises are as glib
as those pitches to buy this or that.
but you, God of Advent,
you are as steadfast as the stars
which glitter in the winter night
and the sun which rises faithfully.
every chance you get,
you renew those vows planted
so long ago in our now-frozen hearts—
that mercy will never be taken back.
justice will be born, even in places
where we rip it out every day.
grace will slip into human skin
and hope will walk our dusty roads
even if they lead to death.
so, ever so uncertain despite
your repeated whispers of love,
we wait,
while you never lose faith
you never falter
you never turn back,
even as we try our darndest
to keep losing our way.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 6th

“And have mercy on some who are wavering;” Jude 22

there are more of us
with clay feet than those
who are so firmly planted
on the Way.
there are more of us
who easily let faith slip
through our fingers than
folks who hold it so easily
in the palm of their hands.
there are more of us
whose promises flicker like
candles in a motionless breeze
than all who can light the way
in the middle of a hurricane.
there are more of us
longing to see a lamp
in the window like a lighthouse
for those who are high risk for
being shipwrecked on the rocks
than those whose clear sight
allows them to walk in the shadows
without any fear or doubt.
so have mercy, we pray,
have mercy,
for we have met the waverers
and they are us.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 5th

”May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.” Jude 2

while the days shorten,
the world slips closer to shadows
and we join in the hustle and bustle
of these days more than we do hope,
come—
in the gentle hands of old friends
who warm our wintery hearts
with nothing more than kindness.
come—
in that simple act of mercy
as someone who took a risk on us
tells us that the only thanks they need
is for us to do the same
for someone else down the road.
come—
in that silent pause in our worries
which allow us to hear the beating
of that heart which is always with us.
come—
in that love which does not need
fancy paper and gold ribbons but
is covered in the dust from
walking by our side over the
rough sidewalks of our days.
come—
as Advent dawns each day
with bright hope on the horizon
and slips over the edge of night
as our candles twinkle soft hallelujahs.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 4th

“Trust in him at all times, O people;
    pour out your heart before him;
    God is a refuge for us. Selah” Psalm 62:8

though we are not sure
what it means exactly,
we could use a little more
selah
in our lives, in these days.
that simple pause in the middle
of a day, a conversation, a life
which gives us a chance
to take a breath of grace,
that whisper in the ear
which brings us to a halt
so we can notice the dog
rolling in the snow in pure delight,
the little child and kitten
sitting side by side staring
out the window at a mystery
only they can see,
that just out of the corner
of our eyes glimpse of your
Beloved Community as
as neighbors and strangers
come together to thaw
the icy stares the powerful
turn towards those they despise.
we could use a little more
selah
in our lives, in these days,
Composer of Grace.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 3rd

"But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.” 2 Peter 3:8

no matter how big the spaces
our calendars always are full,
our clocks, especially internal,
tick louder the closer we come
to the end of a day, week, month,
our candles burn lower even
as the nights grow longer.
but you, Crafter of time,
simply yawn, and snap,
a thousand years pass.
remind us that you are not tied
to our seconds/minutes/hours,
but you spread compassion
across generations until it becomes
the way of life for all.
and while we squirm like children
who can’t wait to unwrap hope,
may we learn to trust
that you are never in a hurry,
never late, never finished.
in this in-between time
may we prove more ready
than restless,
and more eager to put
worry out in the bin
to make space for wonder.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 2nd

“They do not know how to do right, says the LORD,
   those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.” Amos 3:10

this day, this night, this moment
we light a simple candle trying
to illumine a prophet’s annoying words,
because the world (we) forget
to do all those right things.
our arms are so full of brightly wrapped
packages of gifts, fears, doubts
that we cannot offer a hand
to the forgotten,
and we are too weary
to search for the lost
yet, God slips in on padded grace,
not to judge us, but to invite—
the bitter to learn
the language of welcome
those with clenched hearts
to open them to the lonely,
all the scrooges to reach
into their pockets and empty them.
come, Babe born into uncertainty,
so in this moment, this night, this day
that simple flame will warm us
until justice becomes as familiar
to us as our beloved,
as we relearn what it means
to always choose to do what is right.

(c) 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 1st

“As for me, I am poor and needy,
     but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
     do not delay, O my God.” Psalm 40:17

in this season of accumulation
so many hands are empty,
so many hearts like puzzles which
miss pieces which won’t be found,
we clutch at hope,
worried that, like a candle,
it will go out from life’s bitter wind.
yet—
when the world looks past us,
you see us
in checkout lines
with near empty baskets,
in the silence of the exam room,
in the loneliness sitting at our feet
like a stray kitten refusing
to get off our front porch.
so come,
not to those banquet rooms
of the privileged who lack nothing,
but to those forgotten places
who have nothing to offer
but an empty manger.
as we wait,
staring into our bleak existence,
hoping that you will indeed
remember us and come running
with grace in your arms.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman