| DAY 7 - KEEP AWAKE AND WATCH |
Father, through John the Baptist you tried to prepare
your people for the coming of Jesus.
Will you try to prepare us too?
Prepare our hearts and minds that we may know
what to look for in the coming of Jesus Christ
into our world....May we show the joy of
the Advent message in our lives day by day.
Through him who came at Christmastime.
Amen.
From Prayers Before Worship
The Doubleday Prayer Collection
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A good contemporary song about
trying to find hope and courage
during dark times. All four
members of TRAIN, playing here,
are on the song credits:
Charlie Colin,
Pat Monahan (lead singer),
Jimmy Stafford,
and Scott Underwood.
Produced in 2003
on the Columbia Label.
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Here are the 4 ladies who
have done more for medieval and
renaissance music appreciation
than anyone, ever.
With their renowned purity of
sound, ANONYMOUS 4 marked
the millenium by exploring in
chant and polyphony dread of
the Last Judgement and fear of
the end of the world which
pervaded 10th century thought.
The CD's called
"1000: A MASS FOR
THE END OF TIME".
Their many recordings are
all on the harmonia mundi label.
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Here's certainly the least
played cut from The Eagles'
legendary album:
HOTEL CALIFORNIA,
which came out in '76,
on the ASYLUM label.
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THE SECOND COMING
by
William Butler Yeats
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Irish actor Cyril Cusack reads the writer's most
famous piece. It's from a his CD: The Poetry of William Butler Yeats,
released this year by Saland Publishing.
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Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
*
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
William Butler Yeats, 1919
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But about that day or hour no one knows,
neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but
only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not
know when the time will come.
It is like a man going on a journey,
when he leaves home and puts his slaves
in charge, each with his work, and commands
the doorkeeper to be on the watch.
Therefore, keep awake - for you do not know
when the master of the house will come,
in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow,
or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep
when he comes suddenly.
From The New Testament
Mark, Ch. 13:32-36
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A Note From The Publisher About Max Lucado's Book
Would you like to discuss the end of time and feel better because of it?
Could you use some reassuring words regarding the return of Christ?
But how is that possible?
How could the return of Christ bring comfort?
Open graves. Occupied clouds. Sins revealed and evil unveiled.
What's so comforting about that?
WORD PUBLISHING
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Lord Immanuel, Prince of Peace,
let us be especially alert to your coming
during this Advent. As a parent listens for the cry
of an infant, as a sailor watches for land,
as a doctor watches for signs of returning health,
let us be attentive to your arrival.
Let not our pride and arrogance blind us
and put us to sleep. Give us the endurance to be
true watchers of the night as we journey
through this advent. Amen.
From The Redemptorists
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