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Spring ’24

Advent Four

Kathryn Smith

Ours is a God who lives in every sort of dwelling, with every sort of person, whether we live in a house or a tent or no place at all. In the Old Testament lesson, God chooses the humble dwelling place—the tent rather than the cedar house. Similarly, God chooses the humble person, Mary, through whom to bless the world. Perhaps it’s in our humblest state that God has the most use for us.

God of the Homeless

God of the cedar house and the cedar tree.

God of the tent. God of the low-rent apartment,

recipient of a shut-off notice:

thirty days and you’ll lose power.

God of the powerless. God of the living

in a rusted-out Ford. God of those who carry

their belongings in plastic garbage sacks.

God of garbage. God who seeks the lowest

of the low, and finds favor. God who inhabits

the least likely of places. God of those with nothing

to do but wait for blessing to find them.

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