1 O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home;

6 O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
still be our guard while troubles last,
and our eternal home.

If you live in the northeastern United States and into the midwest, you are are aware that Covid is not done yet. Throughout the world the threat remains. It is trying, exhausting and painful to keep doing this. Most people feel “so done with the virus,” yet we are asked to persevere. Last summer many of us tossed our masks to the wind with vaccines and test kits available and numbers of cases going down and …here we go again!

Oh precious God, I believe the words above taken from the Isaac Watts hymn from the 1700s, but the intensity and constancy of Covid steal my joy! I trust your hand is on this spreading illness and in YOUR time we will understand it better and live with it better, but my patience wanes day to day.

In this anticipatory time we call Advent, while awaiting the arrival of a tiny and holy baby to help us lowly souls find our way, I shall pin my faith on God’s mighty words:

Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.“