A collective holding of breath,
growing anticipation,
the draining down of sand
and dawning realisation.

A sense of something changing,
reversal of the tide,
the night is nearly over,
two worlds will soon collide.

The earthly land of Adam
and heavenly realm of Christ,
by sin once torn asunder,
the terrible great divide.

But with the Light’s appearing,
the bridging of God’s Son,
his Word to flesh descending,
through love they’ll be made one.

To vulnerable skin he comes,
by human form confined,
it’s Immanuel we’re awaiting,
this hope-filled advent time.

So light a candle with me,
upon the advent wreath,
prepare yourself with prayer,
for the Christ-child to receive.

I was asked to offer a poem for a joint Advent service between my church and a neighbouring one (Rosedale Community Church). Mulling this over, I found an old one I’d written before and reworked it into this, changing the original last line and adding a number of new stanzas.
(07.12.25)

© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Alexandar Todov on Unsplash