Learning to Watch Again

What if Advent isn’t about waiting for a distant miracle,

but about learning how to watch again?

Isaiah imagines a moment when everything feels lost—

when people are treated as disposable,

when God’s name is dragged through the dirt,

when hope feels worn thin.

And then God says:

“Look.

It’s me.

I’m the one speaking.”

That’s Advent.

Not God shouting from the sky,

but God breaking into ordinary life—

into fields,

into night shifts,

into the quiet work of people who are simply keeping watch.

That’s why the first witnesses of Christmas are shepherds.

They aren’t powerful.

They aren’t impressive.

They’re awake.

They’re paying attention.

Isaiah calls them watchers—people who lift their eyes,

who recognize God moving,

and who burst into song when they see it.

Advent invites us into that same posture:

To look.

To listen.

To stay awake.

Not for a God who recruits us,

but for a God who restores us as family.

God’s family.

Every night.

Isaiah 52:5–12  

“And now, what do I have here!!?” says YAHWEH,

“that My people have been taken for Vain Emptiness.

 Those who rule over them boast,” says YAHWEH,

“and continually, all day long,

My Name is treated with Insult!”

Therefore,

My people shall know My Name!

therefore, in that day,

they shall know that I Am the One who speaks:

Behold me!

How beautiful upon the Mountains

are the feet of the one who brings good news,

who announcesThriving Peace,

who brings Good News of goodness,

who announces Rescue,

who says to Zion,“Your God Reigns.”

The voice of your Watchers

are lifted up!

together they sing for joy,

for they see

eye to eye

YAHWEH returning to Zion.

Burst out!

Celebrate, sing together,

you ruins of City-of-Peace [Jerusalem],

for YAHWEH has Comforted His people!

He has Restored-as-Family the City-of-Peace.