Tak terasa Natal hanya tinggal beberapa hari saja. Begitu banyak persiapan yang gereja lakukan menyambut Natal ini. Kesibukan yang melanda tak sadar membuat kita lupa meluangkan waktu untuk berdoa, bukan hanya berdoa bagi persiapan Natal itu sendiri, namun berdoa agar Kristus juga lahir ke dalam hati mereka yang tertimpa oleh kemalangan, bukan hanya secara lahir tetapi juga batin.
Ketika saya membaca sebuah buku doa, berjudul A Book of Reformed Prayer (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1998), saya mendapati satu doa yang dinaikkan pada abad 20 oleh seorang teolog besar, Karl Barth (1886-1968), demikian:
O, Lord, our God, when we are afraid do not let us despair. When we are disappointed do not let us become bitter. When we fall do not let us remain prostrate. When we are at the end of our understanding and our power, do not let us then perish. No, let us feelthe Thy nearness and Thy love, which Thou hast promised especially to those whose heart are humble and broken and who stand in fear before Thy word. To all men Thy Son has come as to those who are beset. Indeed, because we are all so beset he was born in a stable and die on a cross. Lord, awaken us all and keep us all awake to this knowledge and to this confession.
And now we think of all the darkness and suffering of this our time; . . . of all the burdens that so many must bear uncomforted . . . . We think of the sick and the sick in spirit, the poor, the displaced, the oppressed, those who suffer injustice, the children who have no parents or no proper parents. And we think of all who are called to help . . . the judges and officials, the teachers and leaders of youth, the men and women who are responsible for writing books and newspapers, the doctors and nurse in the hospitals, those who proclaims Thy word in the various churches and congregations near at hand and far away. We think of them all with the petition that the light of Christmas may shine brightly for them and for us, much more brightly than before, that thereby they and we may be helped. We ask all this in the name of the Savior in whom Thou hast already heard us and wilt hear us again and again. Amen.
