From where I stand, everything is massive,
towering and overwhelming – ocean waves heaving and crashing,
redwood trees reaching like hands towards
clouds that rise tall and pompous
I can’t see it all
Without turning around and around in dizzying
Awe.
My smallness grows at the sight of such grandeur
And a strange delight wells within me
As I gaze at all that’s beyond my seeing and knowing.
Creation, with whispers too loud to hear
offers a glimpse of Your majesty
Matchless, boundless – You cannot be contained
Still
I wonder, will You remain
forever veiled in mystery?
From where You lay, thick darkness now cradles Your growing body
You who split the light from the dark
in the beginning
The sea and land measured and defined
by You, who now lays folded in a virgin’s womb
limbs pushing against the muscular wall of Your mother’s body
You, who dress each day anew
with striking silhouettes and watercolor hues,
human flesh You wear and bear
the weight of time and space and sin
Eternal, All-Knowing One, You now see
the darkness of humanity
from within.
Beloved of God, lowered into our limitations
Glory wrapped in our shame
You now see us face to face
You hold our gaze and do not look away
You see it all – the massive, the micro,
our blatant crimes and hidden cries
You, who cannot be contained,
now come in our midst, named
the Word made flesh
With the shepherds, we find a baby
born with unassuming airs, the King of Kings
Heaven shapes Strength in fraility
Holiness is heard in a baby’s cry –
body breathing, God redeeming
we receive, we now see
the fullness of Deity.
Merry Christmas, dear friends!
May the joy of Jesus’ birth and the redeeming scandal of God with us grip your hearts anew this Christmas season.
Grace and peace,
Christina Crawford
Sweet Dependence 