Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Collect for the First Sunday of Advent, BCP, 211.
This is one of my favorite prayers in the Book of Common Prayer. I wrote on this prayer in 2012 and in 2013, when it first came alive for me. The prayer speaks truth and hope. It also speaks challenge and responsibility.
And I need—we all need—truth and hope these days. We also need to assume responsibility and “chase away the works of darkness.”
This prayer has echoed in my head since Sunday, when it was read for the beginning of Advent. But I haven’t been able to give shape to those echoes. What does it mean to “chase away the works of darkness”? What does it mean to “put on the armor of light,” especially in these days? The darkness is heavy. As of this morning, 271,000 people in the US, and 1.48million people worldwide have died from COVID 19. Unemployment rages. Families lose their homes. Political division, like a nuclear mushroom cloud, spread ashes and devastation beyond the center.
The list is long.
I return to the lessons that friends, family, and colleagues at Congo Initiative and the Christian Bilingual University of Congo have taught about casting away darkness and putting on the armor of light. Those lessons continue to instruct. Here’s a sampling of what I continue to learn:
- Lament. Wrestle with the harsh realities. Wrestle with God. Sit with others in their pain. Lament is the foundation of hope.
- Lift up my head. See beyond my private bubble of anger, fear. or worry. Find vision.
- Stand courageous. Live in hope. Do, as Jim Wallis says, “Believe in spite of the evidence, and watch the evidence change.”
- Do for others. Twelve step wisdom echoes St. Francis’s prayer, “Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive.”
- Participate in healing—healing of communities, individuals, institutions. And these days, in the US, there are plenty of opportunities to participate in the work of healing, reconciliation, and justice
- Delight in the simple. Boundless beauty exists in a leaf, a good cup of coffee, a smile.
- Be grateful. Stand beside, listen to, and learn from those whose lives are suffused with gratitude (as so many colleagues and friends in DRCongo and my American friend, Jesse has taught me).
May we all do our part to “cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” in these days and the days ahead.