Advent: From a closet fertilized by hope

“Advent wreath, First Advent Sunday” by Micha L. Rieser

We celebrate the first Sunday of Advent with an excerpt from “Rite for Advent” by Chris Glaser, published in Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies, and Celebrations:

One: The closet may be a fertile place:
creativity bursts out of a lonely hell,
and from a closet fertilized with hope,
the spirit leaps from a monastic cell.

Many: Those born in darkness
have seen life.

One: Out of dark soil sprouts new life,
from darkness springs embodied hope.
Both stretch for the illumination
of the cosmic landscape.

Many: Those born in darkness
have seen life.

One: Dear God,

Many: We seek your Word embodied
in life rooted in fertile darkness.
In life stretching for illumination,
we await your transforming Word.

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Chris Glaser is a gay Christian author and activist. He currently pastors at Virginia Highland Church, a progressive Baptist and United Church of Christ congregation in Atlanta.

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(A humorous note from Kittredge: I used a voice recognition program to do this post, reading the prayer aloud from the book and letting the computer convert it into text. It often makes funny mistakes, but this one really made me laugh. I read, “Creativity bursts out of a lonely hell.” The computer typed: “Creativity bursts out of a lonely cow.” LOL! I share this in the joyful spirit of the Advent season. Watch out for lonely cows.)