An Advent Poem by Malcolm Guite

Draw back the veil until my spirit sings
And teach me how to wait upon your word,
Content beneath the shadow of your wings,

Gathering strength in you, until I’ve heard
The word that sends me back into the world
With all its tottering walls, with all its scarred

And ruined landscapes, raggèd flags unfurled,
Its broken promises, and compromises,
The world you love and suffer for, the world

You lift to God, the world that still devises
Its own destruction, in its vanity
Selling its living soul for passing prizes.

I am to love this world as tenderly
As you do, to risk everything for love,
For love lifts time into eternity.