ADVENT'S HELP

"I will lift up my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 

He will not let your foot slip- He who watches over you will not slumber."

 Psalm 121

We have snow now: marketing snow that gets skiers to the mountains and also real snow, snow and ice and cold. And a car frozen in our driveway. A friend needed help getting unstuck, so we found ice-melt and poured it liberally around her tires, trusting it would do the trick. The black ice was still nasty to navigate with old summer tires, but she'll get there.

I wonder where I can find ice-melt for my heart?  My heart is sometimes stuck in grief, remembering those I have loved and lost; I also spin in the every day, "should do this, need to do that." And it's frozen by media, terrorism, trauma and stories; people's suffering weighs on me as I wade through the world. I forget the most basic news. Not fake news, not CBS, NBC, FOX or CNN or even BBC. It is the Good News that there is great joy for all people. That God watches over us and He has come to help us. 

The way forward is to lift our eyes and look for help. God is with us, Emmanuel, and He does not want us to be afraid. We can relax and stop spinning the anxious wheels in our heads. We can trust the One who made the heavens and the earth, He is not sleeping on the job; He sees the chaos and the turmoil, the evil and the sin and He enters in bringing joy. Perhaps joy is the ice-melt for our hearts. 

A Babe in a manger reaches out His hand to you and offers you His gentle presence. And His help. You do not need to be afraid. 

Medicine from Sacred Scripture:

"For I am the Lord your God,

 who takes hold of your right and and says,

 'Do not fear; I will help you. 

Do not be afraid...

for I myself will help you,' 

declares the Lord, your Redeemer,

 the Holy One of Israel." 

Isaiah 41:13-14