Today's reflection from Psalm 61 verse 2:

For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.

Over the weekend the mother of a friend from my church passed away. When I called him to express my consolation he talked about his mother's debilitating stroke which had left her in a state of partial paralysis for years. He was sorry to lose her, but thankful her suffering had ended. Then he quoted Bonhoeffer (every pastor needs parishioners who can quote Bonhoeffer). It is something Bonhoeffer wrote during Advent from his Nazi prison cell as he awaited execution:

“A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes - and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent."

My friend's mother waited patiently for her Advent freedom; it has now come.