Exclamations of hope
from the burning-lips prophet
speaking perhaps of the impending birth
of a royal prince who will be an heir
to the throne; and eagerly claimed,
seven centuries later,
by the followers of a crucified teacher
to undergird his Messianic credentials.
They stack up well, when woven
into the birth stories, speaking of wisdom,
eternity, peace and justice. Yes,
this is the one
who we have chosen to follow;
one who stands with reckless defiance
against the mighty forces of fear and self.
Yes, he must be that child,
the one to be born of a young woman,
the one upon whose shoulder
government and peace shall rest
and never end.
And yet his authority is, at best,
a flimsy thing,
depending not upon might or power,
but on the merest whisper of God’s Spirit
breaking gently through
the deeply calloused resistance
of each human heart,
and bringing the fervent call to choose
compassion ahead of fear.
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