An Advent Prayer by ©Mitzi J. Smith, PhD
Dear Mother God, Divine Doula, and Midwife
Like Mary—the expectant, soon-to-be mother of Jesus of Nazareth
We are pregnant with (im)possibilities
Because your Spirit overshadows and empowers us to carry its seed
Amidst insidious and resilient viruses of self/neighbor-hate, of inequality, of poverty
As seeds of the Spirit and people in whom the Spirit plants its seed
To conceive and engender justice, freedom, and mercy,
To alleviate, while laboring to eliminate, oppression and violence, and
To conceive and incarnate hope and the miraculous
Raise our consciousness to recognize and practice life-giving prenatal care.
Help us to nourish our bodies, minds, and spirits—our whole selves
To be nauseous and dis-eased with hatred, injustice, and violence in all its forms
In every space and place
So, we don’t reproduce children in/of poverty, sexism, racism, queerphobia, and other violence
In and beyond this Advent, Mother God, Divine Doula and Midwife of (im)possible births,
Let your Spirit anoint us to birth freedom and wholeness!
Dr. Mitzi J Smith originally wrote this Advent Prayer for the Advent Journal for Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA, in December 2021.