o favoured
one
the Lord is
with you

the voice was
clear
and steady

this radiant
dazzling figure
who’d
mysteriously appeared
out of
nowhere

felt her own

sharp intake
of breath
before this
strange figure
who’d rudely
interrupted
her
daydreaming

of a man
yet was
so very
different
nebulous
shining
his features
softened
by a
shimmering glow
and he
carried a presence
that
emanated
an
extraordinary peace

felt on edge
adrenalin
coursed
through her
like a
mighty waterfall
she felt in
the presence
of something

terrifyingly
beautiful
spell bindingly
powerful
hugely frightening

simply
do not be
afraid

could have
prepared her
for what
came next

one who will
reign
over Israel
forever

of the Most
High

Jesus

a heady cocktail
of confusion, questions
arguments
random
tumbling thoughts                                           

after a
split second
that felt
longer than a lifetime

this
terrifying encounter
had to be a
mistake
he had the
wrong girl
it couldn’t
possibly
be her
she’d never
slept with a man

carried on

will
overshadow you
and make you
pregnant

the Son of
God

a holy baby?

battled for
attention within Mary
she wanted
to run like the wind
from this conversation
pretend it
never happened
get back to
being ordinary

voiced
itself in her head

will
conceive a child                                                                            

this crazy
scenario
all seemed impossibly
possible

that she was
the chosen one

knew she
could never deserve it
had no concept
of the consequences
she wanted
to laugh, cry, dance
all at once
wanted to tell
everyone
about the
angel

there was
only one response
she could
make

let it be to
me
as you have
said

.

once upon a time
a young girl
gave herself
to a labour of love,
a labour
characterised by struggle,
the eternal struggle
between darkness
and light,
the struggle that light
and truth
wholeness
and beauty
were destined
eventually
to win

the battle
between exquisite peace
and sword piercing pain
that began to reveal its destiny
through the young girl’s
labour

quietly
secretly
imperceptibly
Light
was coming,
on its way
across time and space,
to make itself known

and it made its first appearance
with a sign
the shimmering ethereal
radiance
of an angel
bright
clear
unmistakable
softly entering
into an ordinary day

an angel who said
will you lend
your love
that God might birth
a greater Love
through you

and Mary said
yes

tell God

I say yes

I want to meet
with Him,
this Christmas.

I want to engage
with that baby who was God,
connect
with the God
who came as child.

I want to experience him,
be loved by him,
and welcome him this Christmas.

I want to encounter
the new-born Christ
with every ounce of my emotions
every portion of my soul.

I want to anticipate nothing
and expect
more than I can possibly
imagine.

I really
want to meet with that baby
in a radically new way
this Christmas.

I’ll start

by kneeling …

risking it all
on the ‘yes’
of a Jewish teenager,
staking his plans
on the equally difficult ‘yes’
of a carpenter
disgraced,
breaking
social conventions

he came
with forgiving love

choosing to enter history
in the midst of political turmoil,
risking the dangerous anger
of a king
crazy for power

he came
as a helpless baby

conceiving himself
in the womb of a girl,
risking a difficult birth
in the dirt
of an animal stall

he came
with complete humility

seeking the costliest gift
he could bring
he offered us
simply
himself

entering human life
in all of its raw
and complex messiness

he came

because he cared

unlike any other
and yet
so much
like every other
newborn babe

the visible image
of the invisible God
suckled at the breast

drew his nourishment
from the one
whom he’d chosen
to mother him

utterly transcendent
wholly dependent
thoroughly human
completely divine

God
suckled at the breast

and Mary
once more
gave her body in love
and pondered
the mystery

He challenges me
this baby:
I cannot kneel by his manger
and not
be changed,
I cannot gaze into those beautiful eyes
and stay the same,
I cannot hold him close
and fail to be aware
that his purpose in coming
is for him
to hold me,

I cannot welcome this new life
without acknowledging
that this baby
invites me
to radically new ways of being;

I simply cannot find the words
to express
how the coming of this child
challenges me
to change.

A Saviour is born
and life
will never be the same again.

He challenges me
this baby.

from my new Christmas manuscript:

and the Saviour
lay
in the straw

devoid of comfort
but for the warm, soft breast
of she who birthed him

without material wealth,
his earthly parents
homeless
poor
and soon
to be on the run
because of him

a penniless King

the Saviour
lay
in the straw

child of the girl
who risked the scandal
of unmarried pregnancy
for him

son of the God
who turned the world’s values
upside down
who loved us far too much
to leave us
as we were

son
of Love
who created us
to love like him

and came as the Saviour
who lay in the straw

a poem birthed during my time of reflective writing this Christmas:

the tiny miracle
of God-made-small
drinks at the warm
soft breast
of the girl
whose womb
has nurtured him
to life

taking the risk
of placing himself
in the care of his own
creation
God births himself
through a wonderful act
of love

divinity
kisses
humanity
staking the future
on Mary’s
yes

heaven
comes home
to earth