One: Commit yourselves to Christ as his servants.

Give yourselves to him, that you may belong to him.

Christ has many services to be done.

Some are more easy and honorable,

others are more difficult and disgraceful.

Some are suitable to our inclinations and interests,

others are contrary to both.

In some we may please Christ and please ourselves.

But then there are other works where we cannot please Christ

except by denying ourselves.

It is necessary, therefore,

that we consider what it means to be a servant of Christ.

Let us, therefore, go to Christ, and pray:

Many: Let me be your servant, under your command.

I will no longer be my own.

I will give up myself to your will in all things.

One: Be satisfied that Christ shall give you your place and work.

Many: Lord, make me what you will.

I put myself fully into your hands:

put me to doing, put me to suffering,

let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you,

let me be full, let me be empty,

let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and with a willing heart

give it all to your pleasure and disposal.

One: Christ will be the Savior of none but his servants.

He is the source of all salvation to those who obey.

Christ will have no servants except by consent;

Christ will not accept anything except full consent

to all that he requires.

Christ will be all in all, or he will be nothing.

Confirm this by a holy covenant.

To make this covenant a reality in your life, listen to these admonitions:

First, set apart some time, more than once,

to be spent alone before the Lord;

in seeking earnestly God’s special assistance

and gracious acceptance of you;

in carefully thinking through all the conditions of the covenant;

in searching your hearts

whether you have already freely given your life to Christ.

Consider what your sins are.

Consider the laws of Christ, how holy, strict, and spiritual they are,

and whether you, after having carefully considered them,

are willing to choose them all.

Be sure you are clear in these matters, see that you do not lie to God.

Second, be serious and in a spirit of holy awe and reverence.

Third, claim God’s covenant,

rely upon God’s promise of giving grace and strength,

so you can keep your promise.

Trust not your own strength and power.

Fourth, resolve to be faithful.

You have given to the Lord your hearts,

you have opened your mouths to the Lord,

and you have dedicated yourself to God.

With God’s power, never go back.

And last, be then prepared to renew your covenant with the Lord.

Fall down on your knees, lift your hands toward heaven,

open your hearts to the Lord, and pray.

One: God of the womb, It is not lost on us that you submitted to the body of a woman, trusting in it to protect and grow you.

Many: As we remember the nine months you dwelt in the womb, the body of God being nurtured and carried, remind us that our own bodies are worthy of such care and tenderness.

One: May this be a season of sacred pause, as we allow time to be near to our own bodies, to protect and strengthen them. In a world that demands so much of us, remind us that Christ did not come to us in physical independence, allowing the world to take and use him without limitation.

Many: Show us the face of the Christ who was gravely dependent, who needed to be held, fed, washed.

One: Who needed to be soothed and rocked to sleep.

Many: If we are to honor the divine in us, may it be this divinity—fully embodied, fully dignified in the body. Amen.

INHALE: The divine dwelled in a body.

EXHALE: This flesh is sacred.

Glory to the one who comes in flesh for all flesh. Amen.

I was born in the congo
I walked to the fertile crescent and built
the sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
that only glows every one hundred years falls
into the center giving divine perfect light
I am bad

I sat on the throne
drinking nectar with allah
I got hot and sent an ice age to europe
to cool my thirst
My oldest daughter is nefertiti
the tears from my birth pains
created the nile
I am a beautiful woman

I gazed on the forest and burned
out the sahara desert
with a packet of goat's meat
and a change of clothes
I crossed it in two hours
I am a gazelle so swift
so swift you can't catch me

For a birthday present when he was three
I gave my son hannibal an elephant
He gave me rome for mother's day
My strength flows ever on

My son noah built new/ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
as we sailed on a soft summer day
I turned myself into myself and was
jesus
men intone my loving name
All praises All praises
I am the one who would save

I sowed diamonds in my back yard
My bowels deliver uranium
the filings from my fingernails are
semi-precious jewels
On a trip north
I caught a cold and blew
My nose giving oil to the arab world
I am so hip even my errors are correct
I sailed west to reach east and had to round off
the earth as I went
The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid
across three continents

I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal
I cannot be comprehended except by my permission

I mean... I... can fly
like a bird in the sky...

“As soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.” —Luke 1:44

You can prepare,

but still

it will come to you

by surprise,

crossing through your doorway,

calling your name in greeting,

turning like a child

who quickens suddenly

within you.

It will astonish you

how wide your heart

will open

in welcome

for the joy

that finds you

so ready

and still so

unprepared.

One: Silent God, There are seasons when your silence feels like a cruel act of abandonment. We mistakenly equate nearness with noise.

Many: Show us a different kind of divine intimacy. A silence born not of neglect, but of safety and rest. In a world that weaponizes silence against the vulnerable, it is difficult to believe in its virtue.

One: This Advent, allow us to ask the question of whose voice is being centered and whose is missing. Let those whose voices historically have taken up far too much space fall quiet in this season, in a silence of solidarity.

Many: And let us wait in mystery, believing that those who think they are in control of this world are not, and that oppression will not prevail.

One: Grant the marginalized the agency to choose their silences—not a forced silencing but a sacred rest and defiance in a world whose noise does not relent.  

Many: If we’re silent, let it be the quiet of Mary who kept her story close, allowing a small but sacred number to bear witness to her cosmic unfolding. If we’re silent, let it be the silence of the womb, a warmth we can finally rest in. Amen.  

INHALE: The world grows loud. 

EXHALE: I can rest in this silence.  

INHALE: I can pause and listen. 

EXHALE: Silence is a portal.  

Glory to the one who comes in flesh for all flesh. Amen.

Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?

Mary did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters? 

Did you know that your precious Child has come to make all new? 

This Child that you've delivered will soon deliver you. 

Mary, did you know that your ancient words would still leap off our pages? 

Mary, did you know that your spirit song would echo through the ages?

Did you know that your holy cry would be subversive word, that the tyrants would be trembling when they know your truth is heard?  

The truth will teach, the drum will sound, healing for the pain.

The poor will rise, the rich will fall. 

Hope will live again. 

Mary, did you know that your lullaby would stir your own Child’s passion? 

Mary, did you know that your spirit song would stir our liberation?  

Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb? 

This sleeping Child you're holding is the great I Am. 

One: God of the long wait, We take hope, knowing you are a God whose movement is not dependent on our ability to perceive it.

Many: Remind us that your wait in the womb of Mary was not time wasted but an intimate beginning in mystery, growth, and dependency. Let our own waiting be the same, that we would find ourselves able to trust our communities to sustain us, entering a safe and sacred interdependence for all parts.

One: As we wait for healing and liberation—in ourselves, in the world—help us to practice justice, repair, and mercy, never relying on the divine to absolve us of our collective and individual responsibility.

Many: And let us wait in mystery, believing that those who think they are in control of this world are not, and that oppression will not prevail.

One: Help us to be at rest with the unknowing, that we would trust the secret of Mary’s womb, realizing we aren’t entitled to knowledge or clarity, but are still held in love.

Many: Let us feel that even here you are moving, you are growing our way to life and healing. Protect us from despair as we wait for liberation. Amen.

INHALE: I grow weary of waiting.

EXHALE: God, keep me from despair.

Glory to the one who comes in flesh for all flesh. Amen.

We wait for new heavens and a new earth. —2 Peter 3:13

Who wait

for the night

to end

bless them.

Who wait

for the night

to begin

bless them.

Who wait in the hospital room

who wait

in the cell

who wait

in prayer

bless them.

Who wait

for news

who wait

for the phone call

who wait

for a word

who wait

for a job

a house

a child

bless them.

Who wait

for one who

will come home

who wait

for one

who will not come home

bless them.

Who wait with fear

who wait with joy

who wait with peace

who wait with rage

who wait for the end

who wait for the beginning

who wait alone

who wait together

bless them.

Who wait

without knowing

what they wait for

or why

bless them.

Who wait

when they

should not wait

who wait

when they should be

in motion

who wait

when they need

to rise

who wait

when they need

to set out

bless them.

Who wait

for the end

of waiting

who wait

for the fullness

of time

who wait

emptied and

open and

ready

who wait

for you,

O bless.