Advent: Accepting

A poem

This is the season
of accepting the in-between:
of praying for eyes to see
the “now” where it may be found
(little seedlings sprouting
in cracks and corners),
and hoping that the “not yet”
still will be.

There is a moment
of quiet surrender
when all prayers
have been prayed
and all tears
have been wept.
The weary child
slumps against
her father’s chest
which she had been pounding
in frustration.

And so we pray again
for the serenity to accept
what cannot be changed
before Your descending,
for courage to look at ourselves
unvarnished in the mirror,
for patience to tread
the uneasy path
through the darkling valley
toward the fingertips of light
on the horizon.