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Advent Poems for Wreath Lighting 2019

Last Advent I wrote weekly poems to go along with my sermons and this year I will be using them for the traditional Advent candle wreath lighting - being read by church members. If you are interested in using these poems for your worship setting, please credit them to myself, Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman.
Advent Blessings!


                                           Advent Mural by Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman


A Poem for the first week of Advent - HOPE

Hope seems as light as a feather, 
but sparks all good, deep things that are yet to come.
Hope is a glimmer of light, in the darkest night. 
Even in the midst of chaos, hope is new growth of a fig leaf or bud of the cactus plant; 
growing slowly to remind us, that Jesus is nearby. 
As the Solstice draws near, days grow darker and colder and a single candle of hope shines. 
A single candle to wake us up to the promise given. 
A single candle to stoke the cooling embers of the heart.
A single candle to give, " confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
A single candle to do the heavy-lifting and give us...HOPE.

Prayer:
Help me to be
Open to
Possibilities
Emerging.

HOPE.


A Poem for Advent, Week Two: Peace call
Peace calls to...
pause, embrace, act, contemplate, and exhale.

Pause.
Storms make me feel like running and hiding, when I'm frantic, can peace be present?
Peace.

Embrace.
In conflicts and hurt that push people apart, is peace working to break the ice?
Peace.

Act.
When anxiety freezes me in inaction, does peace give a warm nudge to move?
Peace.

Contemplate.
When swirls of activity tempt me to do, be and see all things at once... will peace slow me down to savor
each
beautiful   
thing?
Peace.

Exhale.
Filling of lungs can only be sweet, when exhale helps me let go of what is not longer of use.
Will peace help me to release and fill my heart, mind, and lungs?
Peace.

Peace calls to...pause fear.
Peace calls to...embrace a need for people.
Peace calls to... act in life-giving ways.
Peace calls to... contemplate beauty.
Peace calls to... exhale
 and trust the oxygen to keep breathing
                                                                 is just on the cusp
                                                                                                of letting goooooooo...
Light one candle to inhale, light another to exhale.
Peace.
Peace.
Peace.

Copyright 2018 Tara L. Eastman


Poem for Advent: Week Three: JOY: just, outrageous, you
Just, Outrageous. You!

Joy is no wallflower.
She, yes she, is bold , sassy and a somewhat fearsome.
Joy bursts into the room and won't stop grooving', till everyone is on the dance floor.
Her name is short, but her actions are memorable; causing laughter to tears in only the best way.
Joy is unstoppable.

You can't ignore her and you must respect her.

She is just.
She is outrageous.
She has one candle for each letter of her name.

Joy will break through all barriers and bring her colorful wonder
to you, and you, and you, and you, and
Y O U...
just, outrageous, you.
JOY!

Copyright December 2018 Tara Lamont Eastman

A Poem for Advent into Christmas: Love stuck
The greatest of the four weeks of Advent into Christmas is here: love.

With all the hope waking, peace-making and joy breaking,
We need the glue of love to make this stick.
Please stick.
More than paper on packages with packing tape,
But something that goes beyond the surface of things
And fills the darkest corners of us with lasting love.

I don't want these gifts of hope, peace, joy and love to disappear like grandma's frosted sugar cookies.
But if they had to be consumed, hope, peace, joy and love would empower us to live out actions …like the making of many snow angels; when we abandon everything else
and surrender to love that stays.

Please stay love,
I don't want you
to melt like snow drifts above 35 degrees....
be crumpled like old gift wrapping...
or abandoned on the curb like a used Christmas tree.

Christ’s light has grown.
Five candles are lit.
Illuminating
our way with hope, peace, joy and the greatest:
Love.

One candle for hope.
Two candles for peace. (Inhale/exhale)
Three candles for joy. J-O-Y.
Four candles for love. (Please stick, love, please stick.)
And the fifth candle yet to come for Christmas – for the light of Christ to blaze in our hearts, souls and minds.

This Christmas, I hope for peace and joy: emboldened - empowered and eternally stuck in our hearts by the power of love.
Love - stuck!

Love, you are the superglue we need.
You are the light we must have to see.
You are what sustains us in all times and in this Christmastime.
Hope, Peace, Joy and LOVE, especially Love.
Please, stick.
Yes, Love. Stuck.

Copyright 2018 Tara L. Eastman


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