A Prayer for the First Sunday of Advent
Advent One, awaken us from our self-induced slumber, we pray. Numb from uncertainty and isolation, our senses have dulled. We confess it is easier to nurse diminished hope, than respond to the suffering of our neighbors, or the hurt lodged deeply within.

Yet we know that just as you came before, you will come again. You who seek to awaken our innermost self. You who come to us in the inconspicuous, the marginalized and the forgotten. You who know our fear of being released from this numbness. Yet in love you urge us on, saying, “My children, keep awake!”
So, God of All Awakening, in your mercy awaken us, we pray. Rouse us from this deadened slumber. Sharpen our senses and set us on our feet. For we want to prepared when we see you – be it in glory or in the least of these.
So we may be counted, as blessed, once more. Amen.
[1] Image from Kekovacs.blogspot.com
[2] Based on The Gospel of Mark 13:37, “And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”
A beautiful prayer as I try to imagine … Advent? Already?
Thank you, Maren. Yes, hard to imagine that Advent is nearly upon us.