Morning Meditation

 

This week, we are opening our sacred imaginations to the poem prayer of Madeleine L’Engle.  I invite you to slowly savor these words with me again.

He did not wait till the world was ready,
till men and nations were at peace.
He came when the Heavens were unsteady,
and prisoners cried out for release.

He did not wait for the perfect time.
He came when the need was deep and great.
He dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine.

He did not wait till hearts were pure.
In joy he came to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame
he came, and his Light would not go out.

He came to a world which did not mesh,
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
the Maker of the stars was born.

We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs with joyful voice,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain,
He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!

I find the closing lines of this poem to open my soul.  We don’t wait until the world is sane for us to proclaim and preach and live the good news of great joy.  The external scoreboard of life may not ever show that we are “winning” before we start singing out about joy to the world.  But it is those places of pain and grief and hurt and harm where God first looks to move in to our life.  What if the scars and wounds are the barn door and manger for God’s grand entry to your life this Christmas?  Can we let God’s love into those spaces and places we usually protect and keep tuck hidden the shadows?  Maybe Christmas isn’t just about the bright and beautiful, but also God’s love born in the places that are dusty and musty and are the last place we would look for God?!  May the light of God shine with love into the shadow places that we are not sure we want God to be born into this Christmas.  May the light of God enter softly like the sun rising in the cobwebbed corners of our soul where we have put all the clutter of life.  May the light of God enfold and hold you, trusting that even if all we can manage and muster is to open the door of our heart 1/8^th of an inch, that is enough for the Spirit to slip and slide into our souls to feel their worth.  Amen. And Amen.