Prayer #90: Advent Sure

I ask you again ... does fear reverse faith?

Prayer #90: Advent Sure

I'm not so sure about this. Or that. Or anything, really, if we're being honest here (and I trust we are).

Sure, everything looks rosy and lovey-dovey right now. But who are we kidding? I'm sure it won't go uninterrupted. My rose-colored glasses will break in several places when I sit on them, and then I'll see the stark truth: It's a gray, harsh world, and I'm condemned to slog through it, alone and unsure.

Then again, I'm not so sure.

It could be the specs expose the world's vast potential. Instead of masking fear, they mitigate it. And maybe they're exercising my eyes with little bright bursts of truth along the way, so when the big reveal comes, I'm sure-footed enough to handle the blinding wonder.

Yet ... I'm not so sure.

So let's meet halfway, God. We are, after all, in the season of uncertain certainties, when folks were sure a Messiah was coming, but not so sure when ... if ever.

I offer to live in doubt and belief (depending on the weather) so that my faith is fortified. I will try hard not to pre-worry, and I will do my best to pre-rejoice.

In return, please help me live out this adventurous life Advent-sure, so I may better strike the fragile, essential balance between cautious optimism and instructive weakness.

Because when we work together, surely hope will carry the day.

Amen. (aka, Sure!)