“Lord, Your coming is the peace of the feast,
Your coming is the seeker’s find ….
Lord, Your coming is the mystery of love,
Which we give to one another.”
Janīna Babre, Advent
The time of waiting has passed, Christ has come, the feast is here! But — peace and love? We see and feel that not everything in our world, in our land, in our family, in ourselves is as well ordered as we would wish. War ravages Palestine by the Mediterranean. In Ukraine, right next door to us, the Russian army’s attacks continue. We and our Latvia feel threatened, defenceless. Inflation empties our wallets. Various worries and illnesses torment us and our loved ones.
Peace and love – where to find them? We will find them if we stop for a moment, look, listen. Perhaps this morning a shop assistant smiled kindly? Perhaps in the doctor’s office a nurse spoke a comforting word? Perhaps this evening on the tram a young person gave up their seat to an elderly gentleman? Perhaps in the nearest bookshop the display window was especially beautifully decorated? Or at home today we were greeted by a purring kitten – also a child of God! May God, on these blessed days and in the days to come, remind each and every one of us to stop now and then, to look, to listen – and to give thanks for the many divine gifts!
Rev. Austra Reine