Movement

A Reflection on the Psalm for November 30, 2025:
First Sunday of Advent

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Psalm 122

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. R.

To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as it was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. For there the thrones for judgment were set up, the thrones of the house of David. R.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers.” R.

For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good. R.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

This is a Song of Ascents, with motion baked into its modus operandi

Moving onward, moving up
Come Further Up, Come Further In

An invitation at the beginning of Advent
   — the word itself, teased apart, speaks motion 
            ad vent:  towards He comes

He is coming toward. Me.

I couldn’t climb up the cliff face to reach Him
So He came down

In the Son’s song of descent, is a lyric calling me to come nearer
Make preparations
Clear the path
Shovel, pick and axe at hand 
  —  prayer, fasting, and alms

Each of them hinted at and to be heard in this psalm of David’s pilgrimage: 

Prayer
Songs of rejoicing
Statements of thanksgiving
Pleas of intercession
A journey to plant our feet in His presence

Fasting
Practice of surrender
Lesson in reliance on grace alone
Willful release
A coming before the throne, ready to give up

Alms
Ability to see brokenness beyond our own
Desire to build wholeness in its place
Love acted out
A seeking to participate in someone else’s good


Father, I’m finding it hard to hold my horses, to find the words 
  to capture and corral the thankfulness I hold for Your alms, prayers and fasting
   — for all You have done to seek to participate in my good,
      — for the songs You have sung over me
         — and most of all, for the willful release of Your Son 

Help me to weave these same carriers of His Way into these next few weeks
As I hold the tools, Holy Spirit breath over these efforts of mine
Giving them motion and movement

In Jesus name, amen.





​Noreen Smith