Let the Stable still Astonish

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Let the stable still astonish:

Straw-dirt floor, dull eyes,

Dusty flanks of donkeys, oxen;

Crumbling, crooked walls;

No bed to carry that pain,

And then, the child–

Rag-wrapped, laid to cry

In a trough.

Who would have chosen this?

Who would have said,

“Yes, let the God of Heaven and Earth

Be born in this place”?

Who but the same God

Who stands in the darker, fouler rooms

Of our hearts

And says,

“Yes, let the God of Heaven and Earth

Be born in this place.”

–  Leslie Leyland Fields

***

I post this every Christmas for lots of reasons, my faith being the main one. Yes, I believe Jesus’ birth was critically important and that despite the dysfunction of organized religion, His  life and words are worth serious consideration.

I also appreciate this little poem because it takes the manger away from being a seasonal Disney-fied religious scene and brings it back to earth. It presents Jesus not as some magical, special ingredient to make my life life better – like flavored coffee creamer – but as a real solution to my deepest needs. It speaks of a God who knows and loves me despite myself. Of transcendent mystery intervening in the sordid particulars of the sad, strange mess of human history. It speaks of intention, of hope, of grace.

And for that, I am truly grateful.

Merry Christmas to you and yours. May 2017 be filled with happiness, health, courage, and compassion.

I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.


 – Jesus of Nazareth Jn. 10:10b