Living Psalm 126 – Advent 3B

Living Psalms Book

Psalms in the form of words and art, reborn in the specific contexts of our world, privileging the voices of historically marginalized communities and those acting in solidarity with them.

It was like we had been dreaming
of leaving this familiar street,
not with pounding feet,
No, just one weary step after another,
traveling to who knew where –
not home though –
not with the relentless bombing
behind us, the gunfire in the streets,
and a stranger on the road shielding us
from the eyes of the dead

It was like we had been dreaming
of a city where the taste of ashes
wasn’t always on our tongue,
where the ceaseless weeping
was just water splashing
into the well, where the knife
hidden between the folds
of our skirts went unused

It was like we had been dreaming
that we were not powerless
to save each other, to serve
each other, to hear the prayer,
dried lips parted, begging for grace
and a place to rest for the night

It was like we had been dreaming
of another season, a softer story
that left out a murderous king
and the mother who might have bled
to death in a stable, of a father
who was terrified of the screaming
but stayed and did what he could,
all alone, to ease her pain

It was like we had been dreaming
that this night might pass finally
with joy, allow us to light
candles and feed each other,
to laugh over this new miraculous life
in the gentle, sacred glow

It was like we had been dreaming
of a sun that might rise bright
and hot, of a baby who cries,
only to soothed by a loving hand,
cradled on the knee of a child
who has come to bring to this
displaced young couple a meal
and a song on her drum

It was like we had been dreaming
of Christmas but woke to a world
still waiting for the good news
of great joy to be sung to us
the shivering and afraid
a people ever needful
of Emmanuel

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Living Psalm for Advent 3B – Psalm 126 was written by Maria Mankin.

Living Psalms Book is created by UCC Witness & Worship Artists’ Group, a Network of UCC connected artists, activists and ministers bridging the worship and liturgy of the local church with witness and action in the community. Maren Tirabassi, editor

Logo is detail from Living Psalm 80 by Sophia Beardemphl, Redwoods, CA. Recovering from significant bullying, Sophia, age nine, read Psalm 80 and thought of brokenness that needs mending. She drew this broken and mended bowl.