passing light

a virgin’s assent

saves us all

What better effort

from the heart can we expect?

The last light of the shortest day casts a pallid orange across an empty sky. Caesar’s decree ensures that a speck of a city like Bethlehem will quickly overflow. The carpenter that leads a donkey laden with his pregnant bethrothed will find no shelter at any inn–even as her time comes.

falling night

ascending celestials

carol the first noel

afield shepherds lay prostrate

And what else could one expect?

The stars emerge–one brightest of all. A mother gives birth to her son. A king of kings holds court in a cave sheltering herd animals. His courtiers: stricken shepherds, enraptured by the canticles of Angels.

What are we to make of this?

In the heart of darkness, the Light of the world is born. Even in the heart of our darkness, a Light awaits.