December 21/Fourth Tuesday of Advent
For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come,
and the song of the dove is heard in our land. ~ Song of Solomon 2.11-12
Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and shield.
Our heart rejoices in him, because we trust in his holy name. ~ Ps 33.20-21
Sunlight is not the only scarce commodity on this winter solstice: hope, too, seems to be in short supply. Rising inflation and supply chain delays, increasing homicide rates, a lack of polity among political leaders, environmental catastrophes ranging from floods to wildfires to tornadoes: everywhere we look, chaos and destruction are having their way. And as far as the eye can see, there is no visible pathway out of this mess to a better future. In the face of the cold darkness gripping the earth, it would be easy to yield to despair, to give up, to relinquish hope altogether. But today’s readings remind us that the winter will pass, the rains will stop, and the flowers will appear again, and that if we can just hang on and trust in God, our mourning will be replaced by dancing, our sorrow by joy. A Kentucky man named Jordan Baize exemplifies what it means to have this kind of hopeful trust: emerging from his basement after the recent catastrophic tornado, he found his house badly damaged but his Yamaha piano intact. With the roof gone, shattered glass and insulation littering the floor, and destruction all around, he sat down and played “There’s Something About That Name,” a worship song that had been running through his head. “Kings and kingdoms pass away, There is something about that name.” In all the difficulties of the present moment, God is with us, shielding us and lifting us up. If we place our trust in him, we can face the future with hope, confident that the light of God’s coming among us is greater than any darkness, and trusting that the day will come, in the fullness of God’s time, when we can rejoice with gladness in the eternal radiance of his love.
Lord of light and air, Lift me out of the depths from which I cry to you, and wrap me in your glorious and abundant love. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122121.cfm
To watch Jordan Baize at his piano, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdlHQNss-8Y
To hear Gloria and Bill Gaither sing “There’s Something About That Name,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwzP1jiYhi0
To hear the Riverside Choir sing “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lotwMj9Q1ac
