Boundless: An Anti-Colonial Advent Devotional will release on November 11th, 2024.
The devotional will run through Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. Daily Prayers will guide us through this journey.
Printable and Digital Copies will be available.
Unbound is not responsible for the printing of the devotional.
In many ex-colonies and countries masquerading as free, the prevailing belief is that European colonialism’s chief aim was to spread Christianity. But in some places, being Christian has been ironically recast as a betrayal of the homeland—a symbol of colonial oppression. Kandhamal, India stands as a grim reminder of this
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1st Sunday of Advent
Holy One, the Psalms declare that “all the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,” yet we far too often invoke the Divine in ways that resemble neither love nor faithfulness. Teach us to not only love you and our neighbors, but to love ourselves. May this be the blessing you intended it to be. We pray these things in your name, which is “Love.” Amen.
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Day 2
You who desires neither sacrifice nor offering, let us never forget that which you ask of us; may we cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow, and stand with the marginalized and oppressed at every opportunity, for it is those who we far too often deem "less than" who reflect your image most clearly. Amen.
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Day 3
Heavenly Father, you who came long before us and will remain long after we have become memories, may we use our limited time on this earth to do what is right -- to cherish the humanity that we share with others, and to not inflict wickedness upon others. O holy one, who feeds the hungry, liberates the captive, and looks upon those who we may deem "strangers" and calls them by their name, for they are the beloved children of the Divine.
Today we live in a world where people from all countries experience the need for resettlement. For some, migration stands for an opportunity to find a better life beyond their country of origin. For others, it becomes a desperate need to leave oppressive conditions of warfare, or despotic governments. Yet
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1st Mid-Week
God who holds not only joy and light, but anger and frustration, remind us in this time of waiting that while our lives are ephemeral, the impact we have on others can be everlasting. May we wield our negative emotions in such a way that even our darkest nights give way to resplendent dawns. Amen.
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Day 5
May the God of ice and stone and flame and wind guard not only our bodies against all manner of threats -- violence, war, injustice, disease, famine -- but guard our hearts and minds in times of division and discord that we might increase and abound in love towards all people -- even those who may not reciprocate that love towards us. May we remember that there are two types of people in this world: our neighbors, who we are called to love, and our enemies, who we are called to love.
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Day 6
Oh, you who lays claim to every treasure in Heaven and on Earth, remind us in our times of scarcity that you praised the offering of two coins from a destitute woman over those who gave from their overflowing coffers. Likewise, remind us during our times of prosperity to adopt positions of humility and love for one another that we might not exploit one another in the pursuit of wealth, but rather assist one another in our pursuit of righteousness. Amen.
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Day 7
Goddess of Peace and Tranquility, as we bear witness to wars livestreamed in real time and hear rumors of war whispered by social media bots and 24-hour news pundits alike, may we remember that your presence is marked by the cleansing of blood from your cities, not by the spilling of blood within them. May we strive for a day when we witness the shining light of flames by night and know that it comes from you, accompanied by the sounds of music and laughter. May we strive for a world where the threat of bombs is nothing more than a distant memory, and may we honor those who have perished on account of our own sins against you and against those who you deemed good, created in your image, entire worlds unto themselves. Amen.
On the Second Sunday of Advent, you may find that—beyond the coming of the Messiah and the repentance of sins—you have forgotten some of the content of John the Baptist’s message. Some progressive, socialist, and leftist Christians may also experience difficulty establishing a practical contemporary connection between John’s emphasis on
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2nd Sunday of Advent
Adonai, we remember the fires of hearth and home and candlelight this time of year, but we also cannot ignore those who are consumed by the fires of war day after day after day. May the sacred fires within us refine us and sanctify us that our feet might march towards justice, that our hands might beat swords into ploughshares, and that our hearts might bear witness to the full humanity of our neighbors. Amen.
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Day 9
O Spirit, you who bears alongside us our anxieties and fears and trepidations, as we bear witness to seemingly endless cycles of destruction, death, and vengeance, remind us that even the darkest of times will inevitably bring forth light. Neither darkness nor light can remain forever, as the cycles of the sun and the moon were set forth ages ago. And in that same way, trouble and hardship give rise to new traditions and ways of understanding you, and in the midst of the wreckage of that which we believed to be eternal, we find cows and sheep feasting in the ruins, a testament to life after death. May we remember you in all things as we bear witness to despair, and may we keep you close to our hearts as we watch despair give way to hope.
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Day 10
Blessed One who presides over the changing of the seasons, in the same way that the sprouting of fig tree leaves indicates the arrival of summer, remind us of the telltale signs of your warmth and presence -- respect, love, solidarity, peace, encouragement, patience, rejoicing, prayer, thankfulness, and seeking to do good to one another and to all people. Embolden and encourage us to be similarly warm and present that people might recognize you in us. Amen.
While most essays about Advent focus on anticipating the peace, love, joy, and hope that the birth of Creator’s Son inspires, I would like first to consider the kind of world Jesus was born into. Let us look at the darker side of this story and then contrast it with
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2nd Mid-Week
Oh, Divine Spirits across all of time and space, all that is sacred and holy and worthy of light and love (that includes you, by the way): May the tears we shed today nourish our dreams for a better tomorrow. Let us create a world that we wish to return to, not one we crave escape from. Let us love one another so fiercely that the line between Heaven and Earth fades into oblivion, and may we finally, finally realize that Death has never had the final word, but has always been a conversation partner in an everlasting dialogue – one that asks, "Who are we? And what do we want to be?" (excerpt from A Heretic's Lament at the End of the World)
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Day 12
You who hears our hearts when they shake like the trees of a forest when besieged by gusts of winds, remind us of the power of faith -- in you, in ourselves, and in one another. We are all one in you, children of the Universe, constructed by the remnants of long-dead stars and sustained by still-living water whose atoms have been present since the dawn of creation. Teach us that faith is not simply a state of being, but an action that we engage in whenever we choose flexibility, love, and trust over rigidity, hatred, and suspicion. Teach us to see you in the world around us and to respond accordingly. Amen.
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Day 13
O Servant King, restore in us a spirit of humility that we might be willing to serve a world where power is far too often understood through the lens of oppression, wealth is far too often understood through the lens of greed, and prestige is far too often understood through the lens of condescension. In that same breath, let us refuse to make ourselves small, but rather allow ourselves to make ripples and waves by the ways in which we show up as our genuine, authentic selves to love and serve our neighbor. Amen.
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Day 14
"O Arbiter of the Stars, the Earth cries out in anticipation for the world to come, a place where those who are righteous will receive their reward and those who are wicked will be judged accordingly. Remind us that even the most righteous among us are not immune to wickedness, and even the most wicked among us are not cut off from the possibility of repentance and transformation. Remind us that we are all masterpieces and works in progress at the same time. Amen.
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What am I afraid of? What keeps me up at night or causes my body physical and emotional turmoil? Dictatorship, global warming, floods, disease, “those” Christians, our kids being harmed, lack of gun control, white supremacy culture and the list goes on. Notice that God’s judgment and wrath are not
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3rd Sunday of Advent
God of Abraham, as we celebrate you drawing near to us this Advent, may we never forget the signs of your presence -- rejoicing, exultation, gladness, love, singing, liberation, gentleness, peace, fairness, justice. May we receive these blessings from you, O Lord, and may we share them fully and openly with everyone we meet. Amen.
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Day 16
You whose name is Love, remind us of the exhortation from 2 Peter that we may make every effort to support our faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. May we never forget that of all things which are good and proper and sacred and true, the greatest of them all is love, without which nothing else we do matters. Amen.
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Day 17
We cry out to the one whose throne is the heavens themselves: As we put up walls to protect ourselves from harm and adopt fighting stances out of fear of those to whom we affix the label of "enemy," remind us that our victory lies not in the strength of our leaders, or our military, or our weapons of mass destruction, but in your capacity for steadfast love and in our capacity to reflect that love in the ways we choose to live our lives. Amen.
There it is—the little town of Bethlehem, which has witnessed many challenges and opportunities for over 2,000 years. Yet it continues to be remembered as the town that welcomed the Lord of Light, where Christ has built His tabernacle in our midst. Two thousand years later, as we approach Christmas,
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3rd Mid-Week
O Sacred Mother, remind us in these times of divisions, as we race to condemn one another in the pursuit of our own self-righteousness, that the Kingdom of Heaven is rooted in unity -- not the sort of unity that crushes diversity, but the sort of unity that envisions wolves and lambs living side by side, both safe and sound. Amen.
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Day 19
Creator of relationship and covenant, oh how we long for love to be written on our hearts - a love that knows no boundaries. As we journey through the wilderness of this life, hold us in our anger and in our tears. Shine your loving face upon us so that we may also shine your love into this world. Amen.
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Day 20
Holy songwriter whose melodies and harmonies fill our souls, dwell among us and within our creation. Remind us of the holy within our lands, the waters, the air that surrounds us, and the creatures of this world. We know too well our own complicity in the destruction of this earth. May we be transformed this season to reorient ourselves from destroyers to stewards of your creation. Amen.
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Day 21
O Womb that nurtures and heals us, that holds us in the darkness of growth and safety, bring forth the birth of newness and imagination. May we be sustained by your abundance as we endure pain, oppression, mourning and evil. Amen.
In the scriptural passages from Psalm and Micah, we encounter the honest yearnings and hopeful desires of ancient Israel for liberation from oppression. The former takes the mode of a prayer and the latter the promise of a prophecy. In Psalm 80:1-7, the prayer beseeches God to bring salvation to
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4th Sunday of Advent
How our souls magnify the Lord! O God who brings down the powerfull from their thrones and lifts up the lowly, we long to feel your presence in such a time as these. Make our ancestors known to us as we continue to stand on their shoulders to change this world just as Mary did. Amen.
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Day 23
To the invisible God, make yourself known to us in the incarnation of your people and your children. You are the God that uplifts the lowly to their thrones, the God who walks alongside us in our fears and troubles, the God that swirls around us in our moments of joy and despair and the God of the oppressed. Appear to us in our everyday lives so that we are reminded of who you are. Amen.
Reflecting on the profound significance of Christ’s birth, particularly within the context of Bethlehem, invites us to contemplate not just a historical event but a divine intervention that forever changed the course of humanity. Bethlehem, a humble town, was chosen as the birthplace of the Savior, a place almost overlooked
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Christmas Eve
God of justice and peace, we thank You for the gift of Jesus, born into our world to bring hope, healing, and repair. As we celebrate your birth tonight, fill us with the courage to resist systems of injustice and oppression. Help us to be Your hands and feet in the world, bringing Your light into the darkness, and proclaiming the good news of Your kingdom. Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus, come.
The people I lived among bore a startling resemblance to the tribe into which Jesus was born. The Yakama Nation is a People seeking to retain their own homelands and unique identity in the cosmos, while surrounded on all sides by empire and structural violence. The lands of the Yakama
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Christmas Day
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those whom God favors! God of the most high, you came to us this day as a child. A child that transformed this world and showed us that power resides in the shepherds of the field, in the everyday people trying to survive, in the hearts of all who long for a just world. We rejoice and give praise to the God who throws tyrants from their high places, who clears our paths filled with stones, and who never forsakes us. Amen.
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Day 26
All creatures under, within, and above this earth, we praise the God who dwells in the fields, flowers, and grasses, who wades in the waters and swims with the waves, who speaks through the winds and the sounds of birds singing, all praise to you O God! We praise you, the God of the mountains and high places, the God of nations and all people, the God of newness and the God of our ancestors. Praise be to you, the God who loves us. Amen.
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Day 27
Holy Listener, hear our prayers through our whispers, our laments, our praises, and our screams. You, oh God, are always with us. Make yourself known to us so that we can feel your presence, know of your love, and fully understand where you would have us to go. Amen.
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Day 28
O God of Light and Darkness, bringer of hope and joy and peace, we await the coming of your manifestation of love. A love that knows no bounds, that stretches from generations gone and generations to come, that forms and molds us in the darkness of the womb, and pushes us into a world to bring about justice and light. May that love consume us, embolden us, and create within us the eternal longing to love all. Amen.
This is the story of two revolutions. The first one started over two thousand years ago when a tween, one who had not gone through a bar mitzvah, the coming-of-age ceremony in Jewish tradition when the person becomes responsible for their own actions. Jesus wasn’t quite an adult yet. And
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1st Sunday of Christmas
God of the Sun and Moon and Stars, your vast universe consumes us with beauty and unknowing. We are so small and yet, you call us to understand, to know and to find our place in our calling for justice and peace. Keep us humble, o God, but also keep us curious so that we may know the wonders of your world. Amen.
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Day 30
Borderless and gateless God, oh how our souls dim in the presence of fear. Create within us a movement of the soul that destroys barriers and bindings so that all can live in dignity. Stir within us the ability to break from our evils of demonization and move us to act. Amen.
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Day 31
Love Incarnate and Wielder of Justice, make pliable our hearts that have hardened to rigid stone so that our minds may absorb the cries of your people. Cries that ring out through the generations of trauma and pain. Shine upon us your light, melting away our coldness and opening us up to a new day of justice and peace. Amen.
The coming of an anointed leader – a leader chosen, selected, and conferred a purpose – is a hope, an expectation, of many of us. According to our holy scriptures, this hope has been in the minds and hearts of Jews for millennia. For Christians, however, the advent of an
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New Year's Day
O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! A name above all names! Remind us that in our naming as your children, we are fully and wonderfully loved because we are created in your image. In this new year, every time we proclaim your name and your love, hold us to account what it means to follow you. Amen.
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Day 33
God of Mind and Heart, knowledge without feeling and feeling without knowledge is inconsistent to your Word. God, keep us on a path of feeling, keep us on a path of knowing, keep us on a path of empathy. For without these things we are nothing and empty. Amen.
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Day 34
God of Job, remind us of these words: "For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy. He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
for precious is their blood in his sight."
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Day 35
To the ancestors who walked through wildernesses, who stood up for injustice, who placed their bodies in the face of oppression, pour your energy upon us this day. Prop us up, steady us, keep us on the path, comfort us and confront us. Amen.
As we celebrate the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is appropriate to reflect on the Gospel of John’s prologue, as it addresses the existence and incarnation of the Word. This passage places Jesus not only in the historical context of first-century Palestine—where oppressed Jews struggled under Roman imperial
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2nd Sunday of Christmas
Wisdom that swirls around us, fill our cups, make us whole, and teach us the ways to light in our world that is shadowed by hate. Offer us the wisdom to see places of hope, spaces of love, the work of peace and the holiness of joy. Amen.
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Epiphany
Holy Instigator and Troubler of Tyrants, we have followed the star and have seen the Christ child. We have seen his journey, seeking refuge in a foreign land as an oppressor seeks to end his life. We have seen it through your Word and in our lives as your children flee from fear and danger. Move us to have an epiphany of heart, blow our minds with your love so that we may end suffering, violence, tyranny and war. Amen.
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