I wrote the first version of this pantoum in Advent 2018 – and share it publicly for the first time in these opening few days of the Advent season. It’s written for all for whom it has been a difficult year:

Our prayer is answered, and God will bring us home –
life’s journey’s not meant for travelling alone.
Our task, to listen, trust, and connect with God once more,
as God, again, sends the love, peace and hope that is His Son.

Life’s journey’s not meant for travelling alone –
with Christ’s arrival, our life’s stresses cannot hold us back.
As God, again, sends the love, peace and hope that is His Son,
we stand at the crib this Christmas, and truly accept that gift.

With Christ’s arrival, our life’s stresses cannot hold us back –
our task, to listen, trust, and connect with God once more.
We stand at the crib this Christmas, and truly accept that gift –
our prayer is answered, and God will bring us home.