Happy Advent!

Christmas, 2011

Peace enters.

No need to turn and look toward the stable door--
my bones hear the soft semi-sound of a sigh.

Breathe deep: peace is fragrant with hope borne on the warm wind of resilience.

Peace is a cedar sapling in a world of chain saws: fragile and relentless as a kiss.

You are Prince of Peace.

Love dances on dew,

across meadows shorn by sheep,

tripping star to star, trailing a rime of silver;

transmuting dross.

Caught cold in its naked gleam, I see

essential light forged in a star, delivered by an angel, flaring forth in a heavenly host.

Love is a straight arrow in a crooked world, eternally reborn.

You are Love.

Joy radiates, flows like lava;

juicy soul-chuckles belly deep from dark depths.

Joy erupts without regard for rank or restraint,

winds its way through straw, sand, and stunning sorrow.

Joy is an uncovered window; the unshuttering of a sunbeam.

You are the Son.

Even here, fixed in the resin, Made-in-China, dollar store crèche

a gleam of holy love persists; a tiny flame licking the edges of my soul.

Joy laughs, the Son shines, and Peace is at the door.

Here is Christmas born of earth, air, fire, and water.

Here is the Christ Child born of spirit, flesh, and bone.

The Dove hovers yet again for us, beak rich with Heaven’s Gift.

Rise up, and receive.

 Merry Christmas!

from Faith & Vincent