The First Thursday of Advent -- December 2, 2010

Isaiah 26:1 - 6

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
God makes salvation
its walls and ramparts.
Open the gates
that the righteous nation may enter,
the nation that keeps faith.
You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you.
Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.
He humbles those who dwell on high,
he lays the lofty city low;
he levels it to the ground
and casts it down to the dust.
Feet trample it down—
the feet of the oppressed,
the footsteps of the poor.


The imagery of "gate" is familiar to the Bible. In a culture where city walls and fortresses were common, gates provided access . . . a way in and a way out.

We should expect, then, that gates carry an important spiritual connotation. They represent thresholds where we transition from one place to another. They are liminal spaces where important transitions take place and God-experience is heightened. They either provide or prohibit access, depending on whether they are opened or closed . . . and depending on whether you pass through or not.

So when the prophet Isaiah images God and God's goodness as a walled city -- Jerusalem, set on a hill, the holy mount -- he must also say a word about the gates which allow access to God. "Open the gates," he pleads in 26:2. He invites access to God for those who would step through the narrow opening.

The Advent text I've taken for my own prayer for these weeks is similar to Isaiah 26:2. It is a line repeated twice in Psalm 24:7 - 10:

"Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in."

This is the promise of Advent, that for persons who open their gates and throw open the doors of their lives, God comes. It matters little that Jesus was born 2,000 years ago if you have closed off your heart to his love and healing. That Christ continues to be embodied in our world today is of little consequence if you close yourself to that reality. The Christmas season becomes another opportunity to be with family, to stress about gifts and to be over-committed.

A most basic Advent posture is the stance of openness. In the language of Isaiah and the psalmist, that means throwing open the gates of our lives so the King of glory may come in.

A few years ago, as I brought Psalm 24 into my own prayer, I struggled with these verses. "Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up you ancient doors." I wondered what these words meant for me. I ended up translating the words with this idea:

"Open up, you door of my heart;
Swing wide, you long-closed gates."


I included Psalm 24 in Fingerprints on Every Moment, largely for those lines and their meaning for Advent.

Now those words have become my breath prayer for this Advent, the prayer that I carry moment by moment as I receive breath and then as I release my breath into the world. The words speak of my desire to have an open heart. They remind me to loosen the gate of my heart when I begin to close down or tighten up. When I shut out the all-things-are-possible of God, my very breath reminds me to open my heart and hands and soul to receive.

So I exhale: "Open up, you door of my heart."
Then I inhale: "Swing wide, you long-closed gates."

I breathe and I pray.