BPW 148 is a simple Taize chant:

Wait for the LORD

[Whose] day is near

Wait for the LORD

Be strong, take heart.

I have sung this in many times and places.

Like many Taize chants it carries me back to the time I was part of a team staffing a 24/7 Prayer room in Leicestershire.  In the wee small hours, well out of my comfort zone being awake at that time, and alone in a large building with only a CD player for company, this chant, and others, somehow enfolded me in God's presence... the Lord's day is near, the Lord's presence is here.

Today has been that typical ministerial mixture... the precious and beautiful sharing of home communion with a centenarian and two other folk; the writing of a "minister's letter" for the January church magazine; the printing of leaflets for Thursday's lunchtime reflection; the making of hard copies of readings for the carol service to give to those not online...

And of course the saying of farewell to Holly.

In all of this, the LORD is near; in all of this the LORD is here

So I find strength

And I am heartened

Advent busyness,

Everyday business,

Grey-skied, wind-lashed, rain-soaked heaviness

Waiting for the LORD

Only to discover

That all the time the LORD is already here...