Christmas 2020

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The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 

This Christmas...

In our scaled down gatherings

and our pared back traditions

Will there be any more room in our lives

for the Christ child?

As, out of love,

we shelter in place

and, out of doors,

we wear our masks

and keep our distance

Will Emmanuel - God with us

inhabit the spaces between?

And, in a subdued celebration of incarnation

will we hear any better

angel voices

and shepherd’s stories

and a mother’s song

proclaiming peace on earth

and justice for all -

Where the lowly are lifted up

and the rich are sent away empty?

Will we kneel at the manger 

and see in the eyes

of the baby who is God

the Christ who challenges us

to open our hearts

to love

and our minds

to change

and our hands

to serve all

on whom God’s favour rests?

And will we recognise

and give thanks for the gifts

of those who watch and wait

who tend the sick

and feed the hungry

who shelter the homeless

and comfort the lonely?

As God is born for us

will God be born in us

the hope of the world

bringing light for today?

May it be so...