A Winter Story

Before God had a name,
We celebrated the Winter Solstice.

We lit fires, and gathered greens,
And we danced and we sang.
We even drew pictures of flowers
And gave them as gifts to one another.

Even then we understood –
In our very humanness —
The need for the darkness –
The time for rest and gathering in –

As well as the joy of turning into the light –
The flowering and rebirth –
The coming of all things sunny.

Before the word was made flesh
And dwelt among us, we knew.
It’s just that some of us needed
Fleshy things
Standing right in front of
Our eyes
In order to believe.

And fortunately, very fortunately
God knew that too.

JEHW
November 22, 2014