Psalm 126

“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.  Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.” (Psalm 126:1-2a, NRSV)

Have you ever been through a bad time in your life, and then got through it?   Perhaps there were physical, or emotional, or economic challenges that you thought you would never get through.  You hung onto God, however, perhaps not without complaining, and one day your “fortune was restored” and you could laugh again, joyously.  Advent remembers a time when days were dark for the people of God.  God turned on the light for them with an angel choir and an announcement to startled shepherds that He had acted on behalf of the world through a child.  If the light is yet to shine for you yet, wait for it.  In the meantime, know that God is with you in the dark.

Restoring Lord, those of us who have experienced your restoration, give you thanks with laughter and joy.  Those of us who await, give you thanks that you are going through whatever exile or darkness we are in with us.  Amen.

– The Editors