The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
— Isaiah 9.2, New International Version
We ourselves are daughters, mothers, aunts, wives, friends, neighbors, teachers, and researchers. We know that in these days particularly, our time is limited. Perhaps you can find five minutes (or more!) for spiritual reflection — and if so, we rejoice with you and bless you! But if finding time for quiet is difficult, we want to help reframe the goal. It’s not about the time spent; it is about the connection with God. If he can feed thousands with five loaves and two fish, then he can take your five seconds of prayer and infuse you with his loving presence.
Some of us have been appreciating the form of prayer called “breath prayer” throughout the pandemic. You can read more about it, but we’ll describe it like this:
Pray a short phrase while breathing — one half on an inhale, and one half on an exhale. Repeat as needed.
We hope these prayers make way for you to both grow in awareness of God’s presence with you and to prepare your own heart for the celebration of his birth, even through the challenging circumstances of these days.
You can find all the other Advent breath prayers on this page.
As we enter into this season of waiting, we invite you to receive the gift of peace through this third prayer in this series of eight breath prayers for Advent 2020.
Jasmine Obeyesekere Fernando considers the connections between the Magis' search for Jesus, the pain of injustice then and now, and links with the modern academy.