I Will Not Die An Unlived Life

—Dawna Markova

I will not die an unlived life

I will not live in fear

of falling or catching fire.

I choose to inhabit my days,

to allow my living to open me,

to make me less afraid,

more accessible,

to loosen my heart

until it becomes a wing,

a torch, a promise.

I choose to risk my significance;

to live so that which came to me as seed

goes to the next as blossom

and that which came to me as blossom,

goes on as fruit.

Be Honest

• Think of a time that you felt strong. What comes to mind first? Was it a time when you were physically strong? Emotionally strong? At your current age, what kind of strength comes most easily to you?
• What makes you feel vulnerable? How can you reimagine your vulnerabilities so that they are like super powers that help you connect with and love others?

Rev. William H. Lamar, IV, senior pastor of Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, D.C., notes that the spirit of God—which sets Mary to sing her Magnificat and sends John the Baptist calling to God's people from the wilderness—not only falls on the poor and marginalized, but seems to be skeptical of those with earthly power. God's spirit does not come to those who are already mighty. Not Herod at the beginning of Jesus' life. Not Annas or Caiaphus or Pilot at the end. The spirit of God ignores temporal, political, or religous power and authority. The spirit of God is never aligned with the might of empire. Instead, it is intertwined with the Magnificat and, as Lamar says, "it keeps marching into the wilderness and choosing John [the Baptist]." It marches into the wilderness and chooses us, too.

Image used with permission from the artist, Scott Erickson.

Contact Rachel Wright, Director of Communications, with questions or concerns about these daily Advent devotionals.