A COVID covered Advent

 Psalm 34:18 NRSV

18  The Lord is near to the brokenhearted,

    and saves the crushed in spirit.

This morning I was pondering what to say in my Longest Night message when this verse showed up in my inbox.   The quote that went with it was, 

“It’s easy to feel closer to the cross than the manger during this Advent covered in COVID.” (Russell L. Meek) 

And I thought Yes! This is just how I am feeling right now.  My Spiritual Director asked a couple of times in our hour together yesterday, “How are you feeling?”  Frustrated.  Disappointed.  Hungry for human touch.  Christmas is hard enough for me without the extra turmoil a pandemic brings to my soul.  For the last decade or so I have found much more comfort and joy in the Longest Night service than the Christmas Eve service.

So then I thought Yes!  God is to near the brokenhearted.  Always there to uplift and uphold us.  Keeping us from feeling entirely alone. My hope is in the Lord, always, who will never leave or forsake me.

And then I thought about being near the cross.  I realized in that moment that when I think about the cross it is always empty.  I don’t see a broken and bleeding Christ as depicted on crucifixes.  I see the empty cross - the resurrected Christ, the one who defeated death.  That is where my hope lies.  That is the image that saves my crushed spirit.

So I think maybe being near the cross in Advent is not an altogether bad thing.  In Advent we wait both for the birth of the Christ Child and the return of our resurrected Lord - we look toward both the manger and the cross, finding hope in each.  

God of Hope, be with us this season as we look toward the manger and the cross.  Be with us as we deal with the ups and downs that go hand in hand with the uncertainties of this time.  Lift us, hold us, heal us.  We pray these things in the name of Jesus, our Lord.  Amen