The Darkest of Nights: Advent Poem #1
It is the darkest of nights
It has been this way
For a very long time
You are silent
But the earth is not
It groans
Like the creaking of
An abandoned house
Whose rooms
Were once filled with life
And now seems to weep
Because it knows emptiness
Is not what it was created for
Its darkened windows
Staring blankly
Crying out for light
To fill them once again.
Or like an old ship
In an ancient harbor
Rocking and swaying and creaking
Not really seaworthy
Still floating
But just barely
Or like my bones, groaning
Carrying too much weight
Aching
But still working,
Though in pain,
Not the way they were intended to be
We are decaying
When will the Life come to us?
You have given us a promise
And hope remains within our hearts
We’ve had glimpses of what’s to come
But understand only in part
Your prophets have told us stories
About the things to come
But we’ve often ignored them and gone our own way
Forgotten the promises, lost our faith
We’ve done so much that we regret
But don’t forget
Us Lord
We long to orient ourselves to You
But cannot find the way
We are stumbling around in the darkness
Oh help us God, we pray!
Has the root of Jesse withered
Or can we still expect it to bloom?
Is there still room
In our story for this?
We know You to be faithful
Even when we are not
And You have promised us a redeemer
A restorer
A savior for Your people
So we ask You to remember us still
For we have been waiting
In desperation
Since the fall of creation
We have been waiting
For years
And lifetimes
And generations
Since our mother and father first sinned
We have been waiting
And praying
And clinging to this hope.
While the seasons change
And the bones of our ancestors turn to dust
We have been waiting.
We feel both barren
And pregnant with expectation
And we wonder
When will You come?
Oh God we long for You to break Your silence
Speak to us
Not just in voice
But in flesh
Give us a word we can touch
Come into this darkness now
And place Your hand in ours
Lead us by example,
Through these still dark hours
We want to live where righteousness dwells
So come dwell with us now
We cannot find the light on our own
Come and show us how.
Our voices tire of crying out
Hoarse from years of praying
So we whisper, Oh come Immanuel
Or simply hold our breath
Wondering when You will come
And save us from this death
It is dark
Come be our light
Save us from
This endless night