Advent Week 4

Hope For Those Who Are Wounded

Sunday, December 22

What enthusiasm and excitement can be found on a playground!  The sound of laughter bounces all around, along with sounds of squeaky swings, squeals of delight, birds singing in the nearby trees and the sound of the wind or rustling leaves.   I see children eagerly running from one thrill to the next.  There is such a wonderful, liberating sense of abandon on a playground.   I can see it in a young child who is proud after having climbed several steps to reach the top of a slide for the first time, or the child being pushed in a swing who keeps screaming, “Higher, higher!”  I notice the child befriending someone who is playing alone, or the parent who puts aside adult “moving and shaking” to enjoy a simple pleasure of life—that of playing with children.   There is so much happiness here.

But, that is not always the case.  Children scrape knees here, break bones on the monkey bars, or feel left out and lonely.  Tears are shed on a playground.  The tears, however, are mixed in with the laughter.  The little boy crying, who fell down, will be back, at the playground at some point, laughing and swinging.   He may have gotten a hug from his father, a band-aid for his knee and a word of confidence and encouragement.  

Life is  like a playground.  There are times of happiness, adventure, anticipation, community, and play.  Sometimes, in the living of our life, we get hurt—hurt feelings, broken spirits, cancelled plans, bruised egos, disappointments, devastating news.   We are wounded.  Let us run to God, as a child to a parent, for comfort and help.  

Advent reminds us that God came to walk among wounded people in a broken world.  Let us turn to the One who came to help the hurting, and to bind up the broken.  Let us cling to the promise of healing and wholeness.    We can’t fix everything; we can’t always keep relationships that have broken; we can’t redo all we wish we could.   We will never have said all we’ve wanted or done all we’ve desired.  But that isn’t the final word.  We can lament and share the wounds of our hearts, and then join in a prayer of gratitude for the God who is faithful—God who will be with us on our own playground of life.    

Glenna Metcalfe