Listen to an audio version or read the text as a reflection on the gospel, Luke 3: 1-6, for the Second Sunday of Advent, 2018.

LISTEN NOW: CLICK HERE

Clear our throats

John the Baptist’s voice,

Stronger than an Alaskan earthquake,

Mightier than a California blaze,

Bolder than a Texas border-wall,

Reverberates beyond generations.

 

His clear intonation and pure eloquence,

Transmitting from ancient prophets,

With rawness from the lonely desert,

Opens our ears to prepare for the savior from blue heaven.

 

His life remains unencumbered,

Since he hears what he speaks,

That all the earth shall be healed and forgiven,

Where hills will be made low and valleys filled in,

And those who torment and divide,

Shall hang their heads in repentance.

 

Our deaf hearts will shout along with John

That Love is mightier than our pain,

When our healed voices speak for the weak,

When our prophetic sentences strung together

Become a safety net for the forgotten.

 

We herald words as prophets,

To people evacuated from storm and fire,

To foster children lost in bureaucratic systems,

To sisters separated between arguing countries,

Then the voice of the prophet

Shall be shelter stronger than cardboard.

 

So we clear our throats waiting for the day,

When our Advent longing shall bear fruit,

And our voices ring from the earth in praise.