Poems for the Sundays of Advent 2009

Transcription

1 Poems for the Sundays of Advent 2009 A selection of poetry linked to the themes of the Sundays in Advent in ] Advent Poem by Colin Alsbury 2] Christmas Is Really For the Children by Steve Turner 3] Dangerous Dreamers by Andrew Metcalfe 4] Magnificat by Marian Monahan

2 Advent Poem Sentinel stands Expectant father... Hospice nurse Awaiting Awaiting Life or death bearing moment That is yet to come Watching Watching Over family, ward or city Scanning farther horizons Seeing Seeing Beyond the parapets That limit others' vision Discerning Discerning The signs of hope or fear Untroubled, unshaken By familiar sounds and sights Guarding Guarding The Peace Awaiting Shalom by Colin Alsbury (24 Nov 2009)

3 Christmas Is Really For the Children Christmas is really for the children. Especially for children who like animals, stables, stars and babies wrapped in swaddling clothes. Then there are wise men, kings in fine robes, humble shepherds and a hint of rich perfume. Easter is not really for the children unless accompanied by a cream filled egg. It has whips, blood, nails, a spear and allegations of body snatching. It involves politics, God and the sins of the world. It is not good for people of a nervous disposition. They would do better to think on rabbits, chickens and the first snowdrop of spring. Or they'd do better to wait for a re-run of Christmas without asking too many questions about what Jesus did when he grew up or whether there's any connection. by Steve Turner

4 Dangerous Dreamers (A reading on the Advent theme of the People of God) If only the world around us was a better place: people kinder, more thoughtful, tolerant, wanting only what s best for others. In fact, what if we were all the same: brimming over with generosity, going the extra mile, candidates for sainthood, the lot of us. A tempting thought but would that be what we really need? Better to have what is ours already: People like you and me, watching, waiting, listening All of us, people of God, saints and sinners with glimpses of the divine: proof that God is still with us, holding us in unconditional love, disturbing us with dangerous dreams. All people dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind, Wake in the morning to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous people, For they dream their dreams with open eyes, And make them come true. (final stanzas by T E Lawrence* Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Introduction by Andrew Metcalfe, Advent 2008 *Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence CB, DSO (16 August 1888[5] 19 May 1935), known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British military officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt of His vivid writings, along with the extraordinary breadth and variety of his activities and associations, have made him the object of fascination throughout the world as Lawrence of Arabia, a title popularised by the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia based on his life

5 Magnificat What if I am wonderfully made, not just a cosmic coin toss one out of two, with a slight nod to the boys, but created with sacred mindfulness and rhyme and reason? What if, after you've searched me, You have not found me lacking and the me-ness of who I am, my real presence, is stunningly alive and beautiful beyond my wildest dreams? What if my darkness is not dark, but an opening into the light, night shining into day, in communion, one, like us. What if You have created every part of me-- such a job well done that you would watch and wait as I took shape and then when I became broken you would dare to come in to my broken-home of a heart? And if I cannot hide-- nowhere to go but fly to sunrises, or mountains or valleys or deserts-- and you relentlessly nip at my heels and nag at my weary self, sleeping to the wonder of it all, then where can I run? What were you thinking when you read my thoughts or when you closed in on me-- in hot pursuit of one so overwhelmed as I? Too much to understand, I relinquish--for now at least-- the rhyme and the reason of it all, and settle into the hidden depths: You are there. by Marian Monahan, Suwanee, Ga, COPYRIGHT 2004 National Catholic Reporter, COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group