Some Christmas poetry shared at Carleton's lectionary group today...
Ellie
IF YOU WANT
If
you want
the Virgin will come walking down the road
pregnant with the holy,
and say,
“I need shelter for the night, please take me inside your heart,
my time is so close.”
you want
the Virgin will come walking down the road
pregnant with the holy,
and say,
“I need shelter for the night, please take me inside your heart,
my time is so close.”
Then, under the roof of your soul, you will witness the sublime
intimacy, the divine, the Christ
taking birth
forever,
intimacy, the divine, the Christ
taking birth
forever,
as she grasps your hand for help, for each of us
is the midwife of God, each of us.
is the midwife of God, each of us.
Yet there, under the dome of your being does creation
come into existence eternally, through your womb, dear pilgrim—
the sacred womb in your soul,
come into existence eternally, through your womb, dear pilgrim—
the sacred womb in your soul,
as God grasps our arms for help; for each of us is
His beloved servant
never far.
His beloved servant
never far.
If you want, the Virgin will come walking
down the street pregnant
with Light and sing ...
down the street pregnant
with Light and sing ...
--St. John of the Cross, “If You Want”
translated by Daniel Ladinsky in Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West (New York: Penguin Group, 2002), 306-307.
If, as Herod, we fill our lives with things,
And again with things;
If we consider ourselves so unimportant
that we must fill every moment of our lives with action;
When will we have the time to make the long, slow journey across the burning desert, as did the Magi?
Or sit and watch the stars as did the shepherds?
Or brood over the coming of the child, as did Mary?
For each of us: There is a desert to travel, A star to discover, And a being within ourselves to bring to life.
by Raymond Hunthausen
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