This reflection is coming soon. Until then, here is a reflection on these reading by Barbara Dilly.

We are heading into Advent again and Daniel leads the way with one of his prophetic dreams that exalts the sovereignty of God. Through his interpretation of a vision he received, Daniel shares his faithfulness to the God who has everlasting dominion over all the earth and a kingship that shall not be destroyed. But this vision also describes the coming of the Christ as our Lord and Savior with an everlasting reign. Daniel’s psalm of praise further exalts this Lord of all creation to be forever praised. We are assured again, this time by Jesus, in Luke 21: 29-33, that the Kingdom of God is near and that his teachings will abide forever. These verses are about eternity, to be sure. They are also about promises.

What I reflected most on today, was the message of redemption in Luke 21:28.  There are a lot of promises that bring us to this point. God promises us everlasting dominion and the coming of a Savior in the Old Testament, and Jesus promises that His words will not pass away even after Heaven and earth will pass away. Jesus also promises us we can be confident that our redemption is at hand, enough so that we can stand erect and raise our heads, because we will be delivered of all the forces of sin and evil in this world. I pray today that we will all not only trust Jesus’s promises, but that we will remain confident in them until Jesus returns. It is a good spiritual practice, I think, to stand erect and raise our heads a bit each day amid all the sin and evil in this world. The beasts will not prevail.