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.
