closest to them. Yet they kept on praying (1:13). They prayed even when they began to wonder what it all meant. They continued to pray even when their hearts were weary and heavy from waiting. No doubt they prayed when they didn’t feel like praying at all, especially when they felt they were now waiting in vain for a son. The universal theme of Advent in Luke’s first chapter is that life seldom turns out the way we had hoped or dreamed. We all have unfulfilled longing. Everyone