Tag: Advent

Dear Shepherds

What was it like in Bethlehem,
after the sky ceased to shine,
there was nobody left to tell,
and the flocks needed a new pasture?
What was it like to hold such news
in your hearts, in your community;
to receive a tiny, infant Messiah?

What did you do the week after?
You went back to work, I assume,
days slowly resuming their routine.
You were changed, yet still excluded,
the messengers of God’s messengers
sliding back into obscurity.

Two years later, He was gone
to escape the coming sword;
no angels came to bring you further news.
Did faith flourish or flounder in the fields of Bethlehem,
how did you hold on to hope?

Thirty years on, do we find you at the Jordan,
washing clean in preparation?
Did you yearn through all those years,
taking up the mantle of Anna and Simeon?

You witnessed to God’s faithful fulfillment,
then found yourselves back in the fields
waiting for Messiah to grow up.

Reading between the lines, I wait with you,
holding hope in the tender arms of patience:

He came, He died, He rose; He will come again. Continue reading “Dear Shepherds”

Eyes on the Manger

I.
in case you’re wondering why everyone is lonely

I used to wonder at the way
a crowd
could feel lonely
feeling reality
without explanation

some say it’s a matter of
technology, this recent
digital life, before that
the industrial revolution, maybe
Rome’s roads drove us apart

some say it’s a matter of
words, possibility against
a lack of truth, define
for yourself what means anything
or nothing to anyone

some say it’s a matter of
perspective, who really knows
the life you’ve lived inside
looking in through the window
of their own experience

some say it’s a matter of
physics, that matter
never touches, have you ever
really touched another object
much less a person

some say it’s a matter of
sin, of protective clothing
hiding the truth, shameful
parts too much to bear
before God and man

now I wonder how this crowd
of disciplines can explain the reality
of aloneness so impartially
while the poets just bleed
words that never mean the same thing twice


II.
in case you’re wondering what more there is to say Continue reading “Eyes on the Manger”

cry yes

Back in college, I read global news every day. I was hungry to know more about the world, to be engaged in humanity’s struggles. At some point, the number of problems got too huge for me to process, and now I’m pickier about what news I read. I don’t want to be bombarded with stories designed to put me in a spiral of despair, but at the same time I don’t want to be in ignorance!

These days, the news reminds me of our great need for a solid foundation on which to build a reconciled world. The work of reconciliation between persons and peoples and creation itself is too difficult to build on anything less than the rock of reconciliation with God! At the same time, we mustn’t sit around on the foundation singing nice songs and pretending the work is done.

I didn’t write this poem for Advent, but it seems appropriate somehow. As the darkness of winter reflects the darkness of a desperate world, so each little candle we light illuminates the One who brings light to otherwise impenetrable darkness.

Entering into our flood of pain and failed solutions, the Christ child is God’s great “Yes!” in a world of human “No”.

Continue reading “cry yes”

Go in Peace

(Part 2 of 4 in the “Grief in a Season of Joy” series)

How long, O Lord, will we live in fear of Pain
Wary of being weighed down forever by it
I want to arrive in the city of Hope and dwell in Joy
But Pain will not be left behind while I journey
It clings to my legs, refusing to be forgotten,
And becomes a stumbling block Continue reading “Go in Peace”

Grief in the Season of Joy

(Part 1 of 4 in the “Grief in a Season of Joy” series)

In this season of anticipation, I ought to be anticipating not only the birth of the Messiah, but also the halfway point of my fourth pregnancy. Instead, I find myself grieving loss, recognizing that grief is not always something you can defer to a ‘more opportune time’.

At an Advent retreat last week, I sensed an invitation to begin posting what I’ve written during my grief process, even though Christmas is nearly upon us.

So, for those of you who grieve your own losses in this season of joy, the next few weeks are for you! May you find the freedom to be present with grief as we remember the moment God came to dwell with us, pain and all.

To a Little One I may not get to meet Continue reading “Grief in the Season of Joy”

God in all the Wrong Places

In the interest of simplifying Advent, this week is a re-post of my favorite Advent blog from last year! Blessings to you as you find small ways to rest in this season.

 

“Oh no, for real?” I thought to myself as the band began to play. “Of all the Christmas songs, why this one? Can’t we sing “Oh Come Emmanuel” or something? This is a kid’s song…”

Despite my internal protests, the drums beat steadily, soon followed by the incessant refrain: “PA RUM PUM PUM PUM.”

And then I started to cry. Continue reading “God in all the Wrong Places”

The Journey of Advent

On December 1st, the season of Advent quietly ushered in a new church year with its uniquely poignant mix of anticipation and longing.

My three-year-old, to whom minutes feel like years, jumped right to the end of the month and began asking if it was Christmas every single day. My oldest, on the other hand, has been around the Christmas block before and loves to point out everything that’s great along the road to December 25th.

After a couple of days, the youngest stopped asking about his future presents and started asking about the gifts of that day – Who’s turn is it to add a magi to the nativity scene? What shape will my chocolate be today? How many candles do we light tonight?

They are learning through candles and chocolate and calendars that Advent is about more than just the destination, it is a journey worth paying attention to. Continue reading “The Journey of Advent”

Manger Song

When we find our wells of Peace have run dry
The world, within and without, misaligned
Into despair, the Incarnate Child
Brings his Hope and his Way Continue reading “Manger Song”