18 Days of Christmas - The Sixth Day

From now until Christmas day I am treating you to foisting upon you our collection of Christmas poems. If I made our cards that year I'll post a picture of that as well. If you missed yesterday's poem, click on the 18 Days of Christmas button in my sidebar. The way you can tell who wrote which poem is to note whose name is listed first at the end. This year's poem was inspired by Mother Paula Jackson, Rector of Church of Our Saviour Episcopal Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. This was the year we moved from North Carolina to Ohio.

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
and with fear and trembling stand.

shh...

In the stillness I hear
the cry of a newborn infant.
Such wailing!
Can you see the tiny fingers,
tiny toes?
Can you feel his heartbeat—
the rhythm of new life?
New life!
Born in blood and water
like us.
Cleansed and clothed
and fed and wailing still,
like us.
Reaching out in blind trust
to the humans around him,
like us.
God’s child on this still night
of birth and promise,
like us.
...and not like us.
Word made flesh,
God from God
with us!

Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia! Lord Most High.

Dana & Mike Rhyne
Christmas 1997