Read 2 Samuel 7:18-22.
The youngest baby I’ve ever held was four days old, my friend’s daughter. She was so small and felt so fragile. Tiny little fingers, and still trying to figure out these new surroundings. What a curious way for God to enter the world, yet it is each of our stories as well.
When the solar activity happened last May leading to sightings of the Northern Lights throughout the US, it was cloudy where I live in Philadelphia. When it happened again in October, my sister and I drove out to a dark place. Although you couldn’t see the lights clearly with the naked eye, the sky looked bright. When we used our phones to take 3-second exposures, the sky was alive with color, blues, greens, and pinks. In some of the photos, you can see the stars, too. It was very cool, the sky dancing with light, feeling like creation praising God.
The fragility of a tiny baby, and the vastness of the night sky. In David’s prayer, he seems to be thinking of a similar juxtaposition, God being mindful of him, his family and future, while being a God of greatness, creator of the universe, unparalleled by any other. In this season of Advent, may we be aware of both God’s greatness and God’s love and concern for each of us, and like David, offering our prayers of thanksgiving.
Pray
God of atoms and galaxies, we praise you. As we wait in this season of darkness and longer nights, remind us that you show up in unexpected and curious ways, and that each of us, small and fragile as we are, belong to you. Amen.
Rev. Megan LeCluyse
Campus Minister & Director, The Christian Association
(University of Pennsylvania)
Words for Waiting 