Reflections on Advent
By Thomas Cross, thomas.cross@broomfieldumc.org
As we come to the end of a year that has been challenging and grief-filled for our state and our nation, I have been reflecting upon the joy that God gives us. The season of Advent is a time when we focus upon the greatest gift ever given to us, the sending of God’s Son to our world. It is also a time to ponder Christ’s promise to complete the work that He began. He will reign among us and bringing peace to the earth.
This year I have experienced the same cognitive dissonance that Henry Longfellow did some 150 years ago when he wrote, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” Overcome with grief at the loss of loved ones – as well the unrest and division he saw in America – he wrote these words… “And in despair I bowed my head: ‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said, ‘For hate is strong, and mocks the song of peace on earth, goodwill to men.’”
Yet those bells which pealed on Christmas morning penetrated the cloud of grief and despair that had overwhelmed Longfellow in the cold Boston winter. The bells reminded him of God’s presence and promises, and he realized that God is not through with his plans. “Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: ‘God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; the wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, goodwill to men.’”
Joy, peace, and hope met Longfellow in the form of a song, and his world “revolved from night to day.” And these precious gifts have been meeting me each and every day this year, as God’s presence has provided great comfort to me in the midst of grief. The suffering in our world is very real, but it is not the end of the story. God somehow redeems the pain and teaches us as we walk with Christ through the hills and valleys of this life. And the promise, so well expressed by John Oxenham, remains:
Beyond the war-clouds and the reddened ways,
I see the Promise of the Coming Days!
I see His Sun arise, new charged with grace
Earth’s tears to dry and all her woes efface!
Christ lives! Christ loves! Christ rules!
No more shall Might,
Though leagued with all the Forces of the Night,
Ride over Right. No more shall Wrong
The world’s gross agonies prolong.
Who waits His Time shall surely see
The triumph of His Constancy;
When without let, or bar, or stay,
The coming of His Perfect Day
Shall sweep the Powers of Night away;
And Faith, replumed for nobler flight,
And Hope, aglow with radiance bright,
And Love, in loveliness bedight,
Shall greet the morning light!
~John Oxenham
Originally posted on the BUMC Blog Dec. 21, 2012.
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