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Dear Parish Faithful,
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Our "guest meditation" is from the pen of our parishioner, Jenny Harkins. Here is her marvelous poem/meditation on the Nativity of Christ, written many years ago, but subsequently modified to incorporate new insights that Jenny has absorbed upon entering the Orthodox Church this last summer.
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Nativity Meditation
In spirit, I kneel in the dirt and the night,
Trying to contemplate this incredible sight,
The
Uncreated One, eternally begotten, with no beginning and no end, Who
breathed the breadth of this universe I can’t comprehend;
The Master Craftsman who spoke tenderly each life into being, Resting in your work’s beauty and deeming it pleasing;
It was your mighty heart who invited us to commune
In holy image and intimacy with the Divine Triune;
And your same pure heart that finally broke
In
those dark days of sin when you and Noah spoke, And yours was the
promise as that bow finally shone, That the reason for hope is in your
love and mercy alone.
You, Lord God, led Israel by the hand,
Out of slavery, conquering kingdoms, into the Promised Land;
Covenant love so true, it rang louder than their quarrels,
And humility-centered wisdom that sought the heart beneath their morals.
What Sovereign is this whose own arm will justify
Hordes of convicted sinners sentenced to die?
Your holy presence expansive in Heavenly power Waiting in eternity for the perfect hour...
When, making the change by the Holy Spirit,
Your ineffable glory
became enfleshed in our story,
The angelic hosts trembling to see it!
Through the natural throne of a Virgin’s womb, Her love’s labour, a kairos miracle in bloom, The eternal, incomprehensible, invisible Word
Entered time,
in a cave,
with a push,
And a soft cry was heard...
Your little back, so strong, will carry the weight of ageless sin,
Your little tongue, Truth’s power, stirring the depths within, Fresh little fingers wrapped tightly around your mother’s,
Will embrace the abandoned and heal brokenness in others, Those little eyes, so bright tonight, will shed bloody tears,
For those of us choosing to dwell in the darkness of our fears.
Royal blood, holy blood, blood of the Living God, Coursing through me, all my worth, kneeling low in awe, To make an offering of peace and a sacrifice of praise For the Divine Mystery revealed to us in these latter days.
You brought us into being, and when we fell, you raised us up again. You did not cease doing everything until with you we could ascend With death’s shackles undone and our spirits’ sanctified,
For from all of eternity, The King would have his Bride.
With the great cloud of witnesses circling round, We carol amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
And worship in wonder with Heavenly hosts singing of his birth, Glory to God in the highest! And Peace among men on earth!
