Dec. 27
The Offering (Christmas 1983)
May the kings of Tarshish and of isles render him tribute,
may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts!
Long may he lives,
may gold Sheba be given to him!(Psalm 72:10, 15)
Brought up in a world where there's no free lunch
And trained to use presents for barter, I'm spending
The rest of my life receiving this gift with no
Strings attached, but not doing well.
Three bathrobed wise with six or seven
Inches of jeans and sneakers showing, kneel,
Offering gifts that symbolize the gifts
That none of us is ready yet to give.
A few of us stay behind, blow out the candles,
Sweep up the straw and put the crèche in storage.
We open the door into the world's night
And find we've played ourselves into a better
Performance. We leave with our left-over change changed
At the offertory into kingdom gold.
Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.
Matthew 1:11b
2008-12-27
2008-12-26
Living the Message Dec.26
The Gift (Christmas 1976)
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given...
and his name will be called
"Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)
Half-sick with excitement and under garish lights
I do it again, year after year after year.
I can't wait to plunder the boxes, then show
And tell my friends: Look what I got!
I rep the tissue from every gift but find
The all the labels have lied. Stones.
And my heart a stone. "Dead in trespasses
And sin." The lights go out. Later my eyes,
Accustomed to the dark, see wrapped
In Christ-foil and ribboned in Spirit-colors
The multi-names messiah, love labels
On a faith shape, every name a promise
And every promise a present, made and named
All in the same breath. I accept.
A savior has just been born in David's town,
a Savior who is Messiah and Master. Thi is what you are to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.
Luke 2:11-12
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given...
and his name will be called
"Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)
Half-sick with excitement and under garish lights
I do it again, year after year after year.
I can't wait to plunder the boxes, then show
And tell my friends: Look what I got!
I rep the tissue from every gift but find
The all the labels have lied. Stones.
And my heart a stone. "Dead in trespasses
And sin." The lights go out. Later my eyes,
Accustomed to the dark, see wrapped
In Christ-foil and ribboned in Spirit-colors
The multi-names messiah, love labels
On a faith shape, every name a promise
And every promise a present, made and named
All in the same breath. I accept.
A savior has just been born in David's town,
a Savior who is Messiah and Master. Thi is what you are to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.
Luke 2:11-12
2008-12-25
Living the Message Dec.25
The Pain (Christmas 1978)
... and a sword will pierce through your own soul
also, that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed. (Luke 2:35)
The bawling of babies, always in a way
Inappropriate--why should the loved and innocent
Greet existence with wails?--is proof that not all
Is well. Dreams and deliveries never quite mesh.
Deep hungers go unsatisfied, deep hurts
Unhealed. The natural and gay are torn
By ugly grimace and curse. A wound appears
In the place of ecstasy. Birth is bloody.
All pain's a prelude: to symphony, to sweetness.
"The pearl began as a pain in the oyster's stomach."
Dogwood, recycled from cradle to cross, enters
The market again as a yoke for easing burdens.
Each sword-opened side is the matrix for God.
To come to me again through travail for joy.
"This child marks both the failure and
the recovery of many in Israel,
A figure misunderstood and contradicted--
the pain of a sword-thrust through you--
But the rejection will force honesty,
as God reveals who they really are."
Luke 2:34bB-35
... and a sword will pierce through your own soul
also, that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed. (Luke 2:35)
The bawling of babies, always in a way
Inappropriate--why should the loved and innocent
Greet existence with wails?--is proof that not all
Is well. Dreams and deliveries never quite mesh.
Deep hungers go unsatisfied, deep hurts
Unhealed. The natural and gay are torn
By ugly grimace and curse. A wound appears
In the place of ecstasy. Birth is bloody.
All pain's a prelude: to symphony, to sweetness.
"The pearl began as a pain in the oyster's stomach."
Dogwood, recycled from cradle to cross, enters
The market again as a yoke for easing burdens.
Each sword-opened side is the matrix for God.
To come to me again through travail for joy.
"This child marks both the failure and
the recovery of many in Israel,
A figure misunderstood and contradicted--
the pain of a sword-thrust through you--
But the rejection will force honesty,
as God reveals who they really are."
Luke 2:34bB-35
Be Quiet, Patient and Listen
He gives us one tongue, but two ears.
God never plays the game. Keep seeking, asking and praying.
--
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
God never plays the game. Keep seeking, asking and praying.
--
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
2008-12-24
Living the Message Dec.24
The Dream (Christmas 1974)
...an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. (Matthew 1:20)
Amiably conversant with virtue and evil,
The righteousness of Joseph and wickedness
Of Herod, I'm ever and always a stranger to grace.
I need this annual angel visitation.
--sudden dive by dream to reality--
To know the virgin conceives and God it with us.
The dream powers its way through winter weather
And gives me vision to see Jesus gift.
Light from the dream lasts a year Impervious
To equinox and solstice it makes twelve months
Of daylight by which I see the crèche where my Redeemer lives. Archetypes of praise take shape
Deep in my spirit. As autumn wanes I count
The days 'til I will have the dream again.
Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. Ha name the baby Jesus.
Matthew 1:24-25
...an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. (Matthew 1:20)
Amiably conversant with virtue and evil,
The righteousness of Joseph and wickedness
Of Herod, I'm ever and always a stranger to grace.
I need this annual angel visitation.
--sudden dive by dream to reality--
To know the virgin conceives and God it with us.
The dream powers its way through winter weather
And gives me vision to see Jesus gift.
Light from the dream lasts a year Impervious
To equinox and solstice it makes twelve months
Of daylight by which I see the crèche where my Redeemer lives. Archetypes of praise take shape
Deep in my spirit. As autumn wanes I count
The days 'til I will have the dream again.
Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. Ha name the baby Jesus.
Matthew 1:24-25
2008-12-23
Living the Message Dec.23
The Tree (Christmas 1975)
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesus,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots. (Isaiah 11:1)
Jesse's roots, composted with caresses
Of dove and lamb, parchments of ox and goat,
Centuries of dried up prayers and bloody
Sacrifice, now bear me gospel fruit.
David's branch, fed on kosher soil,
Blossoms a messianic flower, and them
Ripens into a kingdom crop, conserving
The fragrance and warmth of spring for winter use.
Holy Spirit, shake our family tree;
Release your ripened fruit to our outstretched arms.
I'd like to see my children sink their teeth
Into promised land pomegranates
And Canaan grapes, bushel gifts of God,
While I skip a grace rope to a Christ tune.
The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
the power of the Highest hover over you;
There fore, the child you bring to birth
will be called Holy, the Son of God.
Luke 1:35
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesus,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots. (Isaiah 11:1)
Jesse's roots, composted with caresses
Of dove and lamb, parchments of ox and goat,
Centuries of dried up prayers and bloody
Sacrifice, now bear me gospel fruit.
David's branch, fed on kosher soil,
Blossoms a messianic flower, and them
Ripens into a kingdom crop, conserving
The fragrance and warmth of spring for winter use.
Holy Spirit, shake our family tree;
Release your ripened fruit to our outstretched arms.
I'd like to see my children sink their teeth
Into promised land pomegranates
And Canaan grapes, bushel gifts of God,
While I skip a grace rope to a Christ tune.
The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
the power of the Highest hover over you;
There fore, the child you bring to birth
will be called Holy, the Son of God.
Luke 1:35
2008-12-22
Living the Message Dec.22
Dec. 22
The Greeting (Christmas 1986)
The following six days are selected Christmas poems written for annual Christmas greetings.
Hail, O favored one,
the Lord is with you! (Luke 1:28)
My mail carrier, driving his stubby white
Truck, rimmed in blue and red, wingless
But wheeled, commissioned by the civil service
Daily delivers the Gospel every Advent.
This Gabriel, uniformed in gabardine,
Unsmiling descendant of his dazzling original,
Under the burden of greeting is stoical
But prompt: annunciations at ten each morning.
One or two or three a day at first;
By the second week momentum's up,
My mail box is stuffed, each card stamped
With the glory at a cost of only twenty-five cents
(Brining the news that God is here with us)
First class, personally hand addressed.
"Good morning!
You're beautiful with God's beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you."
Luke 1:28
------------------------------------------------
Cool, I like the message so much, it's so encouraged.
I don't wanna be a stupid girl! Keeping listening and learning.
Follow Him. Don't expect GPS, map or layout anymore!
The Greeting (Christmas 1986)
The following six days are selected Christmas poems written for annual Christmas greetings.
Hail, O favored one,
the Lord is with you! (Luke 1:28)
My mail carrier, driving his stubby white
Truck, rimmed in blue and red, wingless
But wheeled, commissioned by the civil service
Daily delivers the Gospel every Advent.
This Gabriel, uniformed in gabardine,
Unsmiling descendant of his dazzling original,
Under the burden of greeting is stoical
But prompt: annunciations at ten each morning.
One or two or three a day at first;
By the second week momentum's up,
My mail box is stuffed, each card stamped
With the glory at a cost of only twenty-five cents
(Brining the news that God is here with us)
First class, personally hand addressed.
"Good morning!
You're beautiful with God's beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you."
Luke 1:28
------------------------------------------------
Cool, I like the message so much, it's so encouraged.
I don't wanna be a stupid girl! Keeping listening and learning.
Follow Him. Don't expect GPS, map or layout anymore!
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