Advent is ... expectant
ADVENT PEACE PSALM
O Prince of Peace,
whose advent we seek in our lives,
come this day and show us
how to beat our swords into ploughshares,
tools of life instead of instruments of fear.
May your love strip us naked
of all weapons ans strategies of conquest,
which are not the tools of lovers,
wise ones and God's children.
Let us not lust for power
but rather strive for the insight
to be guided on the Way of Peace.
Let us not yearn for a victory
that requires a sister's sorrow
or a brother's shamefaced defeat.
With tears, black suits and dresses
and tolling funeral bells,
let us attend life's victory parties
that are won at such cost.
Let us be Advent adventurers and peacemakers,
hammering swords into shovels,
filling holes and leveling peaks.
Let us be disarmed and vulnerable,
for only through such open hands and hearts
can Emmanuel come.
by Edward Hays (based on Chapter 31 of the Tao Te Ching)
O Prince of Peace,
whose advent we seek in our lives,
come this day and show us
how to beat our swords into ploughshares,
tools of life instead of instruments of fear.
May your love strip us naked
of all weapons ans strategies of conquest,
which are not the tools of lovers,
wise ones and God's children.
Let us not lust for power
but rather strive for the insight
to be guided on the Way of Peace.
Let us not yearn for a victory
that requires a sister's sorrow
or a brother's shamefaced defeat.
With tears, black suits and dresses
and tolling funeral bells,
let us attend life's victory parties
that are won at such cost.
Let us be Advent adventurers and peacemakers,
hammering swords into shovels,
filling holes and leveling peaks.
Let us be disarmed and vulnerable,
for only through such open hands and hearts
can Emmanuel come.
by Edward Hays (based on Chapter 31 of the Tao Te Ching)
