2005
CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS —
"O
Little Town of Bethlehem..."
by Rev. Dr. Mary Susan Gast
 "The hopes and fears of
all the years are met in thee tonight"
In Bethlehem,
Hope and fear collided.
God's Perfect Love
Cast out the fear,
And only hope was left.
In our own towns, lives, times,
Fear glares at hope with icy eyes.
Fear roars through the mighty megaphones of
the Patriot Act,
and the trumpeted discovery of a "war
on Christmas,"
and dulling over-amped allegiance to the death
penalty,
Distorting our yearning for safety and comfort,
Drumming into our grief-laden hearts the absurdity
that only retribution can bring closure and
peace.
Where is this Perfect Love that conquers fear,
Topples it, and dissolves its wormy core?
"O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to
us we pray,
Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us
today."
Be born, take root;
enter in, infect us with a contagion of health
and compassion.
Help us shake off fear's numbness,
re-establish circulation to our frost-bitten
limbs.
Let the glacier of terror begin its melt,
Let our hearts warm with insistent hope.
"How silently, how silently the wondrous
gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts the glorious
love of heaven."
Jesus Christ is born!
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Mary Susan Gast
Christmas, 2005 |
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