Dear folks,
The Lord consistently remind you of His presence and transforming relationship in this season of preparation and for His birth. A season for His birth and our rebirth.
I have selected three poems that are very meaningful to me at this time from a collection of poetry my mother gave me two years ago – The Lion Christian Poetry Collection.
Enjoy, be blessed, Holy is the Lord.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. . .
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:1-4, 14.
Warmly,
In Christ,
Jeremy Bell
Salus Mundi
I saw a stable, low and very bare,
A little child in a manger.
The oxen knew him, had him in their care,
To men he was a stranger.
The safety of the world was lying there,
And the world’s danger.
Mary Coleridge
1861 – 1907
It is as if Infancy were the Whole of Incarnation
One time of the year
the new-born child
is everywhere,
planted in madonnas’ arms
hay mows, stables,
in palaces or forams,
or quaintly, under snowed gables,
Goths angular or baroque plump,
naked or elaborately swathed,
encircled by Della Robbia wreaths,
garnished with whimsical
partridges and pears
drummers and drums,
lit by oversize stars,
partnered with lambs,
peace doves, sugar plums
bells, plastic camels in sets of three
as if these were what we need
for eternity.
But Jesus the Man is not to be seen.
We are too wary, these days,
of beards and sandalled feet.
Yet, if we celebrate, let it be
that he
has invaded out lives with purpose,
striding over out picturesque traditions,
our shallow sentiment,
overturning our cash registers,
wielding his peace like a sword,
rescuing us into reality,
demanding much more
than the mild and the softness
and the mother warmth
of the baby in the storefront crèche,
(only the Mann would ask
all, of each of us)
reaching out
always, urgently with strong
effective love
(only the Man would give
his life and live
again for love of us).
Oh come, let us adore him –
Christ – the Lord.
Luci Shaw
20th century
Kid Stuff
The wise guys
tell me
that Christmas
is Kid Stuff…
Maybe they’ve got
something there –
Two thousand years ago
three wise guys
chased a star
across a continent
to bring
frankincense and myrrh
to a Kid
born in a manger
with an idea in his head…
And as the bombs
crash
all over the world today
the real wise guys know
that we’ve all got to go
chasing stars
again
in the hope
that we can get back
some of that
Kid Staff
born two thousand years ago.
Frank Horne
20th century