Pause for Prayer: FRIDAY 1/7

Last Sunday, we celebrated the arrival of the Magi who had been searching for the Christ Child.  This coming Sunday we will meet an adult Jesus, beginning his public ministry of preaching the Reign of God.  Some 30 years intervened between these two scenes!  In the days before we make that jump,  let's ponder for a little longer,with the help of a five-year old, the nativity - what kind of response it invites all of us to make...

She was five,

sure of the facts,

and recited them

with slow solemnity

convinced every word was revelation.

 

She said
"They were so poor
they had only peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches to eat
and they went a long way from home
without getting lost. The lady rode
a donkey, the man walked, and the baby
was inside the lady.
They had to stay in a stable
with an ox and an ass (hee-hee)
but the Three Rich Men found them
because a star lited the roof
Shepherds came and you could
pet the sheep but not feed them.
Then the baby was borned.
And do you know who he was?"

(Her quarter eyes inflated

    to silver dollars.)

"The baby was God."

And she jumped in the air
whirled round, dove into the sofa
and buried her head under the cushion
which is the only proper response
to the Good News of the Incarnation.

- John Shea in The Hour of the Unexpected

 Pause for Prayer

Lord, help us regain a child's perspective

    on the surprise, the joy, the gift of your birth

        so long ago in the little town of Bethlehem...

Lord, stir up in our hearts

    a child's wonder at a baby's birth,

open our eyes to see what a child sees:

    the glory of God, close at hand,

    near enough to touch, to hold, to love...

In our own ways, Lord, help us jump and whirl

    and dive into cushions of unrestrained joy,

nestling ourselves in the warmth and comfort

    of the very good news: the baby born was God!

 

Amen.

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