Monday, December 20, 2010

12 poems of Christmas? ["day" 8]

A silent night

amid the chaos
amid the hustle
the bustle
of normal life
in a desert like town
a silent holiness
came
turning a barn
into a temple
not a temple
for the rich
not a temple
for the influential
or for the “stars”
of any age of men
a temple
for the lost
for the lowly
a temple
for the rest
of us
a baby
born in a barn
who would grow up
to save the world
here
there was a beautiful silence
a beautiful holiness
as the best chapter
of an unbelievable
severely brutal
love story was beginning
a love story
of
and for
all time
“good tidings
of great
[and unending joy]
that shall be
for all people
[of the entire
human race
from Adam & Eve
to the last humans born
in this world]
for
unto you
is born
this day
in the city of David
[our] savior,
Christ
The Lord”

The last song
we sing
[@ LW]
on Christmas eve
is Silent Night
there is something profound
in the singing
of this carol
maybe
it’s the fact
that so many nights
leading up to Christmas
are anything
but silent
not
necessarily
holy
Christmas
seems to turn life upside down
Sin
does pretty much the same
Yet
Jesus shows up
and
rights things
putting things
in their proper order
in their proper perspective
The first time he does this
it really feels weird
having been upside down
for so long
it takes time
to adjust
yet
once you do
the
“old way” seems
so silly
so shallow
so unimportant

Jesu,
as I prep
not only for my
“little sister’s” return
help me to keep
your perspective
on all things
Christmas things
and non

b.e. noll

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