song of the homeland

Like our ancestors in exile, being Christians observing Advent in the American christmas culture is like singing the Lord's song in a strange land

Psalm 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.

2 There on the poplars
we hung our harps,

3 for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD
while in a foreign land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill .

6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
my highest joy.

7 Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
"Tear it down," they cried,
"tear it down to its foundations!"

8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is he who repays you
for what you have done to us-

9 he who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.

!

Advent time in a Christmas world

everywhere its Christmas around me. but on the christian calendar its advent. waiting & hoping. that's where most of my life is spent. there are those rare glimpses of heaven that are pure joy. that's Christmas! so I'll wait in advent because those glimpses of joy are worth the wait.