Bar 5:1-9
Phil 1:4-6, 8-11
Lk. 3:1-6

A Timeless Message
The Second week of Advent has come and gone. I was on call for my hospice and each day was full of folks who were getting ready to go home to God. I would come home each night and even though I was full of thoughts about the readings for December 10th my fingers never got to the keyboard.

I apologize for a week that needed more than ever a response to the invitation of John the Baptist to:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The winding roads shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

I am not sure how you make straight a pathway, when you are responding to work. However, perhaps the challenge for a week like this is to clear a space in our hearts so we can hear the healing words of God say, “I know you are trying, be gentle to yourself and breathe.”

So, as we walk this Advent journey let us seek to clear the pathways. Let us make space in our inner heart space to hear a voice calling out in the wilderness. Let us take time in our busy schedules to stop, breathe and respond to the message of John the Baptist. That message is timeless, Second Sunday of Advent or not.