Gates

Open up the gates--Is 26:2

When our kids were growing up we sang this song with our Advent Wreath prayers:

The King of Glory comes; the nation rejoices.
Open the gates before Him. Lift up your voices.

Reading this part of the first reading for today reminds me of our four kids and the lifted voices around the kitchen table. I miss them. The quiet of this Advent Time is different. I still hum that song in my head, though, when I say my Advent prayers.
I am delving into John of the Cross. The portion of the book I read today (The Practice of Contemplation According to John of the Cross by James W. Kinn) indicated that a dryness in prayer life was not a cause for distress, but the presentiment of change. John likened this to patiently and optimistically standing in front of a door waiting for God to open it before us.
Patiently waiting for God.
In another devotional I read of a person learning God always answers our prayers in the affirmative. Sometimes He says,"Yes, but not right now." And sometimes He says,"I have something much better in mind."
Patiently waiting in trust for God. Trekking Catholic.