A Blessing for Making Room in Advent

Like Luke, I am in awe that I get to tell the story through you.
May you go forth and multiply - inviting thousands to know your Source.
May your words and images create a contemplative beholding of the Son.
May they find themselves in the story, and may His word become flesh in them.
As it became flesh in me through you.

Like Zechariah’s benedictus, you emerged from the places I had been silenced
in painful waiting for a promise - longing for new life.
But over time you showed me how to channel my grief into creating.
And now, I am bursting forth with my own benedicutus; my own canticle of praise.
May those who hear it be astounded, and like Zechariah’s relatives,
be “filled with awe” by what they hear.

Like Elizabeth, I have found you in the barren waiting.
In the months of longing, deepening my hunger for God as I searched for him
through whites and burnt umbers and phthalo blues….
You stained my hands and clothes,
leaving your impressions that would not rub off.
And here I am - beholding you in awe. Saying like she did,
“He has taken away my disgrace,” because of you.

You came like Gabriel,
and asked to dwell within me
and allow the Most High to overshadow me
and create something new.
Gabriel told me, “you are highly favored,”
and indeed I am. Favored to tell the story.
Favored to have my Lord come to me,
and ask me to tell His story this way.
Through my flesh, through my body
through color and form that weaves its way into souls
and awakens something new.

And as you were crafted, you taught me how to descend
Descend into the depths of silence and solitude
Unseen - like the zygote hidden and vulnerable
You invited me to descend like Jesus,
into what it means to be human.

Like Elizabeth, may the world know your true name.
You are not Zechariah. You are not a priest like so many expected you to be,
You are not the ways the story has
been told by those who hold power.
But you are a prophetess that uncovers hearts
and leads people to light and repentance.
Like John, may the Holy One
“shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace” through you.

May you go and prepare the way like John the Baptist did.
Prepare hearts to receive Him. Prepare the way for His coming.
May you weave into the homes of those who encounter you.
And invite them to make room for the light.

So here we come to the release - where through labor
You were born into the world. The part of transition
between you and I being known only to one another,
and the part where the world will get to see your face
and behold you as I have.
Where you will leave and breathe on your own
and create spaces of beholding and belonging
wherever you go.

May the angels go on ahead of you,
and give an invitation to those on the margins
to behold the Savior - who is born to them.
May they behold him through your pages,
May they be so astonished by His beauty,
That they cannot help but spread the word.
And may all who hear how He transforms them through you,
“Be astonished.” Including me, who like Mary will no doubt,
Treasure up all these things and ponder them in my heart.

Thank you for choosing me to create you.
You held space for me to be human, for me to find my way
Through the hidden work in the studio and on the page.
So now as I release you,

May you breathe life into those who hold you
May those who meet you find their chests rising and falling
with the rhythm of their breath
May they find themselves coming alive at your gaze.
May they discover how to embody the story,
Like you taught me to.