First Sunday of Advent
From the fig tree learn its lesson:
as soon as its branch becomes tender
and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.
Mark 13:28
We watch the spindly new branches
the ones that came out in Spring
from the bush we thought would not make it;
our realism knew that Winter
would claim it.
Now there are leaves, and buds, and promise.
The Summer will be hot,
humid and deadly for some.
Storms that maraud like Romans breaking the Temple,
clouds with great power come upon us.
Now, though, we listen to branches whisper in wind:
“Wait,” they say, “Soon,” and “Be ready!”
The gray-brown tendril that could be dead
in this very moment
sprouts buds to be born,
like a maiden in an ancient village with visions of angels
like all kinds of life growing from parts of us
we knew were dead.
The fig tells its quiet greening story, a lesson:
God’s good season is always almost here,
and worth the wait.
Andy Meckstroth, Moravian pastor serving Ziegels Lutheran Church
Breinigsville, Pennsylvania