A providential reminder:
Advent arrives every year,
Enters into my impatience,and says
Already, Not Yet.

Already but not yet?
When I was a child I didn’t know what this meant
Outside of gifts under a tree–
Mine, but not yet.

Jesus says God knows how to give good gifts to his children.
I worry about that word “good”.
I think I know what good gifts are, but
God seems to have a different definition in mind.

My parents always asked for a list.
God doesn’t take my list into account.
Or at least
That’s how things stand so far.

Already, Not Yet
Already, Not Yet

Tidings of comfort and joy:
We are the people
Who are given everything,
And we are the people who wait.