THE BONDING
And full of cheerless cheer,
When hopes are raised and dashed again
And joy dissolves in tears.
The search for endless family
The search for one true Friend
Leaves questers tired, disconsolate
With questions without end.
Best find some potent pleasure quick
Some superficial thrill
Than search for everlasting love
When none can fill that bill.
So hide yourselves in shopping
And eating ‘til you burst,
Use endless entertainment
As shelter from the worst.
And hope at least for truce on earth,
Though warlords rattle swords
As if to kill could solve our ills
We seize our ‘just’ rewards.
Mistake some rest for lasting peace
And calm for ‘all is well’
And absence of activity
As year end’s victory bell.
But what if Advent is no quest
Despite the wise men’s star
What if Advent isn’t reached
By driving from afar?
What if Good News comes to us
From well beyond our reach?
What if love and peace on earth
Are more than things we preach?
What if a restless peace
Is what He did intend
Until we open up our lives
And let the stranger in?
What if a peaceless rest
Is not the Christmas hope
What if nothing we could do
Helps us truly cope?
What if there is a bonding
With one who rules above
Who came to us in beggar’s rags
And brought the gift of love?
The God shaped hole in every heart
Is healed by just one source
When Jesus comes to claim his own
Who are without recourse.
So give up endless seeking
Surrender is required
The one who is the Lord of all
Cannot be bought or hired,
He’s not conjured into life
By pomp and circumstance
By Yuletide carols boldly sung
By fun or drunken trance.
He comes unbidden, unawares
Fills crevices of souls
He comes on his own timely terms
And makes the sinner whole.
‘We shall be restless’ said the saint
‘Until we rest in thee’
And find that we have been reborn,
Our own nativity.
How silently, how silently
The precious truth is given
And God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his heaven.
CREATURES OF HABIT
Creatures of habit,
Day after day
Go about life,
The same old way.
Nothing disturbs
Their orderly routine
All must be neat,
And all must be clean.
They’re making their lists
And checking them twice,
Trying to make sure
Their work will suffice.
Impatient by nature
They don’t suffer fools
Gladly or otherwise
Because of the rules.
A place for everything
For all there’s a place
Don’t touch the guest towels
But please wash your face.
They insist on living
Orderly lives,
And of course only marry
Orderly wives.
Their homes antiseptic
Their cars always clean,
Their food always healthy
Their meat always lean.
Like ants in an ant hill,
Repeating their tasks
Rest in repetition
Ignore the mask.
Chaos is forbidden
Experiment absurd
Don’t ask for creative
Don’t mention the word.
Creatures of habit,
By whose design?
Is this just human,
Or is it divine?
What if we found
That ordering our sphere,
Is just a misnomer
For controlling our fear?
Fear of the truth,
Fear of falling
Fear of the unknown,
Fear of our calling
Fearing to let go,
Fearing to try,
Fearing to live,
And fearing to die.
Perhaps if we surrender
Control of our lives,
And offer ourselves
To all seeing eyes
We’d find a new freedom
Though not out of bounds
For when he controls us
The order’s profound.
Let go of the death grip,
You have on your life
Inhibit your habits
Without artifice.
Accept serendipity,
Free by design
Eat the new manna
Drink the new wine.
Come to the manger
Kneel at the throne
Realize your ruler
Won’t leave you alone.
Celebrate Christmas
Deliverance declare
You’re freed to inhabit
A creature’s full share.
Dec. 1 2005
----------------HOLIDAYS/HOLY DAYS
Holidays are hollow
Unless they’re hallowed well,
For holidays are holy days
The time for truth to tell.
There’s time to spare
Time to waste
Time to make amends
Time to do most anything
Even make new friends
Holidays, a good time
For writing poetry
A silent, subtle indolence
Inspires creativity----------------------
INCOGNITO
He came in incognito,
A thinly veiled disguise
The not so subtle son of man,
A human with God’s eyes.
The messianic secret,
Left many unawares
A God had walked upon the earth
And shared our human cares.
We did not see his glory,
At least not at first glimpse,
It took an Easter wake up call,
Before it all made sense.
The truth of Incarnation,
Of dwelling within flesh,
Shows goodness in creation,
And Word of God made fresh.
Standing on the boundary
Twixt earth and heaven above
A Jew who hailed from
But came from God’s great love.
Born of humble parents,
Installed inside a stall
This king required no entourage
No pomp or falderal
No person was beneath him
No angel o’er his head,
He came to serve the human race
To raise it from the dead.
His death a great conundrum,
How can the Deathless die?
But if he had not bowed his head,
Life would have passed us by.
Though we are dying to be loved,
And long for endless life,
He was dying in his love,
And thereby ending strife.
Perhaps the incognito
Belongs instead to us,
Who play at being human,
And fail to be gold dust.
But there was once a God-man
Who played the human’s part
And lived and died and rose again
Made sin and death depart.
Yes now through a glass dimly,
We see the visage royal
And feebly honor his great worth
And his atoning toil.
We cannot see his Spirit,
But moved by its effects
We are inspired to praise his worth
And pay our last respects.
Yet that too brings him glory
That too makes a start,
The journey of a million miles
Begins within one’s heart.
And someday we shall see him
And fully praise his grace,
Someday when heaven and earth collide
And we see face to face.
He comes in blinding brilliance,
A not so veiled disguise
The not so subtle Son of God,
A God with human eyes.
----------------Love and Blessings to All you out there is Bloggerville during this holy season.
This seemed to be the most appropriate place for my off-topic comment. I just read your article, "No Room in the What," at CT.com. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This is what I have been telling people for years. Rural people (I grew up in Oklahoma in a town of 3,000) understand. They had people staying in their barns during the Great Depression. It is so nice to see this on CT.com, and now I can say "Hey a biblical scholar says the same thing," and give them the link.
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