Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 25
But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of...
View ArticleAdvent with the Prophet Jonah: Christmas Eve
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them…They will neither harm nor destroy on all my...
View ArticleAdvent 1
Somehow, likea miracle of new birth,the children rise withall the energy of Christmas morning.I lag behind their delight,lost still in the sleep I wish I was having,yet lifted all the same to seechild...
View ArticleAdvent 2
Days brighten as legs lag;Christmas’ pulse confuses withAdvent slowness.How do we find stillness in this poundingpurposeful ascent to year’s climax?Many rushed home for the census but fewsaw the signs,...
View ArticleAdvent 3
So rare the still point.We must come backto the same place in tinystolen moments to seehow grace grows in spite of us.Infinitesimal changesslowed and tardied by oursenseless flurryyet growing all the...
View ArticleAdvent 5
As a child, it was alwayspure anticipation, the sense of somethingpouring out of a constantlyself-filling source, readying itself solelyfor our delight. Now I keepthe list running in my head of allthat...
View ArticleAdvent Garden: Week One
Peach and plum droptiny unripe fruit scarcelybigger than a stone and Igather them for compost andto ward off rot and fruit flies.Yes, you look to the trees and seesummer declared by thesesigns of...
View ArticleAdvent Garden: Week 2
In this city of constantseasonal confusion, the childrenmust learn and relearn yearly howsummer’s advent only sometimes meansafternoons under the sprinkler or ice cream.Sometimes it meansweeklong...
View ArticleAdvent Garden: Week 3
Miserly with my days, I scrooge awayminutes, hoarding time the wayothers hoard wealth, as thougheach moment to myself were a treasure hordes might steal.Bethlehem’s abundance shames me.In poverty, in...
View ArticleAdvent Garden: Week 4
The day before the abundance breaks,I gather fallen plums and pick upfragments of tinsel shed around the trampoline.Preparing for an iso-Christmas we clean outthe fridge and I carry a tea towel full of...
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