Make Ready

Prepare,
Make ready for use
For an immense event

Where my heart has become distant
Let it be drawn
Where it has placed barriers
May they be cleared

And where I have placed
High obstacles
May they be lowered,
Straight, smooth

So

I may enter into
That rest that I long for
You
To bring Your healing
Your light

Where I
with
All of humanity
And
Creation
May know
Your deliverance

Your salvation
From my
Own self
My own fears
My own insecurities

And in it know
Without doubt
Your glorious light
That directs
me
To Your
Birth
Within me

Will Simpson, December 7, 2010

PREPARE WITHIN ME A PATHWAY

Prepare within me a pathway O’Lord
May I let go of all that hinders
And blocks me from You

You desire to come in
And liberate me with your love
And I have put up so many barriers

Slowly by grace
I hear your invitation
The voice of your spirit
Saying Prepare, Prepare a way
And I so desire this
But yet
I am afraid

What is it you will ask of me?
What is it I must let go of?

One stone, one unforgiveness
One turning away
One jealous thought
One at a time

But then you glance at me
And I am struck by your luminous love
That pierces between my very soul and spirit
And I
Prepare my true self
and
Open wide my heart

To receive
The New Born King

Come O’Majestic One
Come into this open heart
That I have prepared
For You

Will Simpson, December 5, 2010

"At Your Advent"

At Your Advent

Is

My transformation

A change of heart

From darkness to light

Bitterness to forgiveness

Enslavement to freedom

There is a deep stirring

An awakening

That calls me forth

That beckons me from death to life

I am in awe

In trembling

Because

The very essence of You

Touches me

And

Emerges from the depths

Of my being

Where you dwell

Come o’ mysterious One

O’ glorious One

Come whom I have been expecting

But yet

You come

And I am surprised

For You come now

At this

Present moment

Maranatha…….Come

Will Simpson

In Darkness, You Come

In the darkness of the morning

Is stillness

Night stars

Waiting for the dawn

The moon

Calling forth the brilliance of the sun

Come O radiant One

Come and awake the dawn

The dew of the grass

The frost of the night

Melts

At your warmth

All of creation

Gently comes alive

Singing forth

The praises of the new day

So it is

We wait for You

We anticipate

With hope and longing

Your arrival

We beckon you

In response

You declare

“Arise, shine for your light has come”

and You

Your glory

Shines upon us!”

Will Simpson, December 1, 2010

I Wait for You

In the darkness of the night
I wait for You
As a ship is sailing in a misty sea of fog
I wait for You
I seek Your beacon of light
that will guide me
out of darkness into light
all the while
I wait
for You
Anticipating
as a watch-person in the night
who with diligence seeks
and scans the horizon
I wait for You

Come, O Come Emmanuel
and ransom my heart
and all who seek You

PREPARING A PLACE

When I know someone is coming to visit I clean my apartment. There are various levels of cleaning; the superficial where I dust, vacuum, clear the clutter and oh, did I mention stuff absolutely everything into the closet and if they are just visiting for an evening dim lighting goes a long ways! Then there are the times when someone is coming for a longer visit, perhaps for a few days or even longer and maybe it is someone I have not seen for a long time and am so anticipating their arrival and can not wait until they arrive as I long to see them. There are many levels of preparation and cleaning and there are many areas that I want to have filled with light that have been either neglected, become musty or need more light as they are to dark.

So it is I prepare, we prepare our hearts during the season of Advent for the coming of God Incarnate who gently knocks on the door of our hearts and asks "May I come in? May I come and enter that place, that room within and as you have prepared your house, may I by my gracious Spirit prepare your spirit for the birth of Emmanuel, God with us within your heart? May I place within you, in your journey a longing for a return in fullness the Son of the most High God whom the angels proclaimed "Glory to God in the Highest and peace to all people on earth. May we with great anticipation and hope run to that door and open it and proclaim "Let me open up the gates of my heart that You, the King of Glory may enter in!

I.....we have been waiting for You!

May we pause a moment......let it be so......Come Lord Jesus, come and renew our hearts.

What are we waiting for?

How many times do we wait? Wait in a que at the grocery store, wait at DMV, wait to see a physician and for those who ride public transit waiting for the Metro or bus. We wait, waiting to get to the next thing, usually hurried, stressed and already planning what we are going to do when we arrive so we can move onto our next item on our agenda. When was the last time you waited and used the time to be present, to be present in the moment and to take a breath?

Advent is the perfect time, a time to wait. A time not to be stressed, although our culture insists on it with hurried shopping, advertising, parties and the like, filling up our schedules with events and "things to do." We get caught up in it, swept away as in a raging river that is out of control and yet we "try" to be......in control.

Consider this season, the season of Advent, the 4 weeks before Christmas to give yourself permission to take a breath, relax and wait. Wait not with an agenda, things to do or places to be but rather.... be still, wait. Instead wait with all of creation and within your heart for the Incarnation of the Divine, God made into a person, Jesus Christ. Isn't that what Christmas is about? The Divine made into the person Jesus Christ, God Incarnate? Allow in that waiting a stirring to take place, a stirring that renews, refreshes and brings great hope to you, to all of creation that says "Rise, shine for your light has come!" A light that shines in the darkness of our hearts where we are discouraged, have lost hope and are afraid. An illumination that kindles within us a desire for newness, a saving from where we feel helpless, paralyzed and unable to change and instead speaks grace, forgiveness and freedom.

Wait with me won't you and let's leave behind the hurried pace our culture especially demands of us at this time of year and pause...... take a breath and breathe in the newness of life that is within us and we wait for especially now with great expectation, anticipation and hope.

Maranatha.......Come........We wait for you.........the Incarnate Word........made flesh.