COFFEE BREAK 99

+ updated at 9:28am EST

+ It's Advent.  My friend Bob Umidi offers a great reflection on today's Lectionary verses:

Psalm 18
1 I love you, O LORD, my strength. 2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 62
1 For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. 2 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall never be shaken.

In between these Psalms are a variety of texts for today that are full of struggle, judgment, blessings, warnings and turmoil—in short all the good and bad things that happen in a given day somewhere. Because we never know what might happen in a given day, I think it is good to allow these two Psalms to stand as bookends supporting us all the day long. At sunrise, let us say “the Lord is my rock. . .” and before we lay down at night say it again: “I shall never be shaken.”

As we wait for the feast of Christmas, our Advent will be well spent if we can say with the Psalmist, “For God alone my soul waits in silence.” And, in that silence, if we can experience, even if only momentarily, the feeling that our lives are on firm ground—like rock; then we will have the kind of footing we need to move forward into a new year with confidence and strength.

May this happen for each of us.

+ I got stuck in a massive Rochester traffic jam due to very slippery road conditions last night as I went to pick up Mary. What should have taken 7 minutes took an hour. We decided to stay on the East side of the river for a while and got take-out Chinese food. When we finally departed for home, the traffic had let up somewhat but it still took about 20 minutes for the ordinarily 7-minute ride home.