Noel - by Thomas Carlisle

Noel

No quiet child
whose cradle gently sways
promising peaceful dreams
for all who love him.

He rocks the stable
with Magnificats.

He scatters the proud.

He helps the lowly rise.

His sword cuts through
the adamants of deceit.

His cry unsettles
the victimizers
and the crucifiers
and all the extortionate
predators of his kin.

And Herod will not be
the only one to try
to stop his mouth.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Music and Silence

Image
Dr. Laura Scow and I have had great fun creating our Favorite Advent & Christmas Hymn Podcast series--you can find the first five episodes (we have three more to go) on the Music @AllSaints YouTube playlist . More than any other holiday, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without its music. But silence, too, is an important part of our preparation for the celebration of the Feast of the Incarnation...silence in Advent prayer, silence away from the bustle of the world. (Perhaps one of the unexpected things you've found, as I have, about this pandemic Christmas is that it is easier to stay disconnected from the distraction and noise of our typical consumer-focused secular holiday season?) I'm reminded of one of the letters from the demon Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood in C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters, in which he describes how much he hates both music and silence: Music and silence-how I detest them both! How thankful we should be that ever since our Father...
Read more

Invitation to a Lenten Discipline: James and Media Bias

Image
Having a hard time deciding on your Lenten discipline this year? Look no further--I have one based on teachings from the Letter of James:  Burning palms for Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. For human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness (1:19b-20)...If someone thinks he is religious yet does not bridle his tongue, and so deceives his heart, his religion is futile (1:26-27)...The tongue is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people made in God’s image. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things should not be so, my brothers and sisters (3:8b-10)...But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and not hypocritical. And the fruit that consists of righteousness is planted in peace among those who make peace (3:17-18). As Christians, we are commanded to lead ...
Read more

Pentecost 2022 - The Birthday of our journey together as new Rector and church family.

Image
Lectionary readings This prayer is from the great American theologian and longtime Duke professor Stanley Hauerwas: Almighty and ever-loving God, we give you thanks, on this Day of Pentecost, that you did not leave us alone but came to us, in the power of your Holy Spirit, and breathed your life-giving power into every life gathered here this day. You found a way to get to each person here, even when we had no idea of how to get to you. Furthermore, you refused to let us be alone, all locked up in ourselves. You found a way to thrust us into the church, to drag us into fellowship with a group of people whom we would probably never have joined if you had left us to our own devices. By your Spirit you put us into a new, diverse family [not just here, but] one that stretches from one end of the earth to the other. In all this, we give thanks that, in the power of the Holy Spirit, you have saved us from ourselves. Amen! Pentecost is often referred to as the birthday of the Church. What a ...
Read more