Thursday, January 19, 2017

Dear God,

My nativity scene still sits on the coffee table-turned altar.  Several years ago I carried the olive wood crèche in my backpack all the way from Bethlehem.  Each year I set it up the first days of Advent.  The shepherd and sheep graze nearby but the wise kings are afar off.  Mary and Joseph are a ways away as well.  But on Christmas morning Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus take their place of honor in the stable just below the star.  On or about Epiphany, January 6 I bring the kings up and place them close by.  All during the season including winter it rests before me and I draw strength not only from the story but the reality of faith.

Several mornings I just sat down on the couch and gazed at the carved wood.  Somehow the power of the story, the characters, and gleaming candle spreading its light touch and inspire me.  I draw in the hidden pieces of the story, all those lines never written yet lived there in that first primitive stable.  I think of Mary laying on the hay, cold, shivering, and yet warmed by the thought of birthing this very special baby for you.  I think of Joseph, still bewildered by this unfolding drama.  When the shepherds appear shouting stories of strange stars and angels singing and the kings in their full regalia kneel down and offer gifts of great value, I imagine the wonderment that filled that animal shed.

During these days of surgery recovery and complications, I find strength, comfort, and hope at the altar.

Blessed Lord,
a crèche
is never
just a crèche.
It is
the retelling
of the
wondrous story
of faith.
I continue
to receive
the gifts
of Christmas
late into January
because faith
is a
fresh new gift
every morning.

Love, Andrea