Playful Hope

December 21, 2020

 Scripture

‘By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.’ (Luke 1.78−79 NRSV

Playful Hope

It’s the sense of play I missed. My eyes got a bit leaky the other morning as I settled in to my morning prayers. The Christmas tree lights flashed as I admired my decorating. The wee tears came as I remembered the last couple of years decorating the tree with my granddaughter – with current restrictions I did it alone this year. I missed the playfulness, the teasing and the laughter.

But the memories of play past give me hope for play future. I’ve returned many times in this season to aging Zechariah and his remarkable vision for the future. He aged with fertility problems, oppressive religious and political structures and the occupation of his homeland by an invading army. With the surprise birth of his son John, he launches into prayer.

He knows he is in the stream of centuries of generations who have gone before him in the human struggle – but he lived in hope and anticipation even when frustrated by the slowness of God. We too can be people of hope in the slow generational progression that has both blessed and scarred us. We can hope for a sense of play to be restored to life and healthy activity to be reactivated.

I’ve quoted a bit of Zechariah’s prayer and the prayer below is structured around it. It’s my prayer that you will find hope and play this season of restricted activity. God is not restricted – he has come in Jesus – “God with Us”. You can find other prayers for this season on our printable “Prayers for Advent 2020” card.

Blessings on you and yours this Christmas and we’ll see you in 2021, the good Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise.

A Prayer for Today

God of promises,
Sometimes we wait generations for the dawn from on high; sometimes only years.
We wait for justice and hope and light and kindness to mingle in the tangle of our days.
And we age while we hope.
So may we age and hope with tenderness and truth.
Because you are tender and true
even though we sometimes wonder.

Amen.

 (Daily Prayer With the Corrymeela Community, Padraig O Tuama)