Here are two wonderful poems from Madeleine L'Engle that give fresh expression to the stories that we have been reading and living in this Advent season. The first resonates with Mary's courageous, inspired response to the Angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26-38). The second brings Luke 2:1-7 alive in our midst.
After Annunciation
This is the irrational season
when love blooms bright and wild
Had Mary been filled with reason
there'd have been no room for the child.
(from A Cry Like a Bell, 1990 )
The Risk of Birth, Christmas 1973
There is no time for a child to be born,
with the earth betrayed by war and hate
And a comet slashing the sky to warn
That time runs out and the sun burns late.
There was no time for a child to be born,
In a land in the crushing grip of Rome;
Honour and truth were trampled by scorn---
Yet here did the Saviour make his home.
When is the time for love to be born?
The inn is full on the planet earth,
And by a comet the sky is torn---
Yet Love still takes the risk to be born.
(from Walking on Water: reflections on faith and art, 1998)
