Yearning for Light

The Earth is yearning.
I can see it 
     in the strings of lights,
     so many more this year
     dangling so much earlier.
I can hear it 
     in the music of the season  
     playing before that November feast.
I have seen it 
     in the Yuletide movies
     streaming in summer, and even spring. 

We are yearning afar
     communally.
Yearning for calm, 
     an end to fear
Yearning for excitement 
     and wide-eyed joy
Yearning for warmth 
     and presence too. 
This year, this lonely year.
We yearn for more,
     A Light brighter 
     than those dangling strands. 

So let us go 
     to that moment in time
     guided by starlight
     to a stable far
     deep in the night. 

We go
     seeking to hold 
     the intangible 
          made tangible.
We go, you and I,
     and offer our hearts
          as manger
     a place
     for the precious Child to lay.

We prepare the space
     the heart—the manger 
Allowing our hearts 
     to open 
     and soften,
     making space
          for the Child 
               that is the Christ. 

A cry rings out:  
     Emmanuel!
Into the embrace of the warm manger 
     the Blessed Mother
     places the Child. 

Arise, what feelings 
     as I cradle the divine Child.
Shall my heart be touched
     as his tiny hand reaches out? 

In his tender gaze 
     are offers divine: 
          love 
          peace
          joy 
          hope
          comfort
          healing
          renewal
          wholeness.

I accept the gifts
     in the manger of my heart
and dare to realize
     the Light of the World 
          is holding my heart.