They were a people
On a journey.
A people journeying
Home.
A people on their way
Back.
Back to where
They began.
Back to
The rooms and the streets and the synagogues
Where years ago they
Took root and stretched to the light.
They burst forth in quiet glory and delicate determination.
The harshness of the elements around them was matched only by
Their small ferocity.
The winds blew,
And they grew,
And over time,
They found that they covered a lot more ground than they used to.
That brings them to
Now.
They have been called back.
They are a people under opression journeying
Home.
For some,
The journey is a natural leaning towards the warmth of a sun.
For others,
It is painful, ridden with memories of roots desperate for water,
Where there was none to be found.
Dutifully,
They travel
Back to themselves.
It is in this time
Of aching feet and sweat and grime,
This time of
An entire people haunted by themselves
As they remember all the thousands of moments of
Life and of
Death
That have composed their days.
This desperate time of
Their own shadows circling hungrily ‘round them
As they walk on and on.
It is in this time
Of chaotic and inconvenient upheaval,
This time of people coming
Face-to-face
With themselves and saying,
“This is who I am.
This is where I come from.
I am broken, and
I am beautiful, too,”
That
God comes especially near.
He sends a tender shoot to
Burst forth in quiet glory and delicate determination.
A tender shoot that will grow to be
The Greenest, the Growingest, the most Vital
Of Vines,
The thread that winds its way through all our stories,
All our moments of life and of death, both
Yours and mine.
The tendril that patiently grows its way through our souls and,
If we invite it to,
Binds up our broken and
Magnifies our beauty.
This is
The work of the manger.
Love coming near and then
Growing
Growing
Growing,
Until it is too much.
Too much to be contained by body or grave.
An explosion of Love has wrapped us,
And we are held warmly within.
There are
many words
That could be used to describe this
crazy year.
The word that comes
To my mind is
Divisive.
We have experienced separation this year-
In physical and emotional ways.
Differences of opinion about the events of 2020
Within families and churches and friends
Have created empty spaces of their own.
Christmas can be a reminder that Love draws near, rather than turning away.
A reminder that
We ALL carry brokenness and
We ALL carry beauty and that
despite all our differences,
We ALL are in need of the same thing-
Love from God, infinitely larger and more beautiful than we are, and
Love from each other.