Day 12

• 1 Samuel 2: 7-8

   Hannah said, ‘The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
     he brings low, he also exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust;
     he lifts the needy from the ash heap,
  to make them sit with princes
     and inherit a seat of honour.
  For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
     and on them he has set the world.’

A Step

There’s an old chorus with the refrain: ‘he’s turning the world upside down.’ This is precisely what Hannah sings in her prophetic song that we read in today’s door on our Advent calendar. After struggling with childlessness all her married life, Hannah conceives in her old age and dedicates her child, Samuel, to the Lord’s service. As she worships God, she sings that God will reverse the fortunes of those who suffer, the poor, and the downtrodden. Her song echoes that of Mary who also proclaims the great upheaval when the kingdom of God will be established forever and the injustices that blight God’s people will be ended. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that the entrenched inequalities that ruin the lives of so many can ever be reversed, but each of us can begin to make a difference. Each little step we take by buying fairly traded goods, for example, or minimising our carbon footprint, or by taking a stand when we see injustice, is one step further to making life better.

Anna