Advent Calendar 2007

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Day Twenty One: 22nd December

22 December 2007 …click photo to enlarge

Isaiah 25

O Lord, you are my God.
I will exalt you, I will praise your name;
for you have done wonderful things.
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.

2 For you have made the city a heap.
the fortified city a ruin;
the palace of aliens is a city no more.
it will never be rebuilt.

3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.

4 For you have been a refuge to the poor,
a refuge to the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.

When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm,
5 the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place,
you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds;
the song of the ruthless was stilled.

'How can we determine the hour when the night ends and the day begins?' asked the teacher.
'When from a distance you can distinguish between a dog and a sheep?' suggested one of the students.
'No,' was the answer.
'Is it when one can distinguish between a fig tree and a grapevine?' asked a second student.
'No.'
'Please tell us the answer then.'
'It is,' said the wise teacher, 'when you can look in the face of a human being and you have enough light to recognise in her or him your brother or sister. Up till then it is night and darkness is still with us.'
Tales of the Hasidim