Gift? Or Riddle?
Joseph wakes her, by lantern-light. “We have to go. It’s not safe here.”
Their rickety donkey snuffles. Joseph carefully settles Mary behind those elderly, twitching ears. Hands up the child.
Does she look back? Perhaps a kindly local woman supervised the swaddling, nursing, burping.
“Best to leave quietly,” Joseph murmurs. “Avoid questions about our destination.”
It’s cold. Mary misses her mother. Over the stony ground they plod, under uncountable stars—Mary’s longest night yet.
Riddle
Where will they live?
Can she trust a Gentile doctor?
Will Joseph find work?
She shifts her son, easing her cramped arms. Daily trips to a new village well will demand safely balancing him and the water jar.
Can she do this?
Gift
You carry God’s gift wherever you must — Mary might say to us — each small goodness divinely implanted, whether within your arms, your mind, or deep in your belly.
Over nine months, Mary has apprenticed her soul to the quiet arts: nurturing hope, pondering Mystery, carrying on.
The gift tears you open, she might add. There will be scars.
Mary’s endurance instructs me, as Dreamer and I continue seeking medical answers.
Cherish each moment. Every good gift starts leaving your care long before you feel ready.
Perhaps we never fully comprehend what God births within and through us. Child or brainchild, creation is God-breathed. Offer yourself and your work to this world, believing God will reanimate a fraction of its lost hope.
Head into the unknown, step-by-step.
“Living into the mystery of things helps us to release our hold on needing to know the answers.”*
“What Child Is This?” —acoustic guitar, Bill (Dreamer) Klein
We wish you all a wildly fruitful, delectable New Year!
*Final quote: Christine Valters-Paintner, from her marvelous New Year’s Eve post
This… “Perhaps we never fully comprehend that which God births within and through us. Child or brainchild, creation is God-breathed. Offer yourself and your work to this world, believing God will reanimate a fraction of its lost hope.”
Re-read slowly, contemplatively, letting each word and idea take hold. These God-breathed creations living within and without. The wonder. The hope. The mystery.
“believing God will…” Yes, this.
Thank you, Laurie.
Sharon, my dear, visionary, articulate friend, I’m glad the post stirred contemplation that then expanded. Thank you for highlighting these lines. I needed to read them again today. 🙂
Bill’s song blesses me!
Keisha, delighted to hear this. I’ll tell him. 🙂
So glad you recognized the wisdom of Christine’s words and chose to share them with us: “Living into the mystery of things helps us to release our hold on needing to know the answers.” AMEN! Mary must have embraced such wisdom, you and Dreamer are seeking to do so also, right along with the housing and medical answers you need. My prayers are with you also!
Nancy, Christine’s clear, contemplative writing often resonates with my spirit. I’m glad you enjoyed it. You and S are also radically living into the mystery, and my prayers for full recovery continue!
Truth. Beautiful thoughts for this Christmas season and beyond. , Meaningful words guide us through our challenges on our individual road trips throughout the coming year ,and years. Always enjoy your heartfelt writings, thank you again Laurie. Loved Dreamers contribution too.
All the best .
Larry, thank you for reading and leaving this beautiful, hope-filled comment. So glad you enjoyed the thoughts and music. Happy New Year to you, friend. May it bring great joy and godly influence to, and through, your extended family!
“Perhaps we never fully comprehend that which God births within and through us.” –
Laurie, this quote echoes a sentiment expressed by one of my most treasured gifts as she settled back, after Christmas, into her new world: big city two hours away.
“I don’t think you all understand me”, she texted. It saddened me on one level but struck me as obvious on another. How complex and even sacred is the process of growth…of becoming. Of course I don’t understand the intelligent, gifted human being birthed within and thru me! She is beautifully and frighteningly in process. It just hurts so much…the releasing.
You write with such restraint.
With love and respect,
Denise Armstrong
Dear Denise, that text message and your simultaneous sorrow and wise recognition chimes within me as well, a message similar to those I’ve recently heard, or sensed, from people I love, who are also “beautifully and frighteningly in process.” (What a kind and discerning way to put it!)
In the days ahead, may your every releasing be God-breathed, graced, thereby greatly effective, empowering her through each loving act, each letting go.
Thank you, Laurie, for including Bill’s worshipful arrangement of “What Child Is This?” I listened with eyes closed and heart absorbing every pluck of the strings, and every lilt of the tune, while envisioning Jesus “asleep in the hay.”
Niki, thank you. I will make sure he reads your comment. Others, too, have shared today how they were moved as they listened. Happy New Year to you, friend!
Thank you for sharing this work of yours with us, Laurie. It rings true. I’m meditating on your phrase “the quiet arts.” Feels like a place for the puddle droplets that have been splashed about—to recollect.
I will continue to pray for you and your husband. <3
Bethany, you’re so welcome. Gratitude wells up in me that my words carry truth for you. Here’s to the recollection in coming days! And my heart thanks you for those prayers. Such a gift.
such probing questions, Laurie. So many insights to ponder..Mary-like.
when I read your title, it startled me. These were my immediate thoughts before I read your words:
“sometimes the gift tears you open”…damn! Wounds, struggles, seemingly insurmountable and unrelenting hurts…the exhaustion of battling day in and day out over years…when relief and healing seem to finally emerge only to be shattered again…when giving in and giving up lures one into the shadowy clutches… and it takes every ounce of strength to press toward the light…
only God can “gift” the gutting of it all.
The tearing…shredding that goes into God’s thorough search for Himself in us..
It is what we desire and need and pray for. But damn! The gift carries the weight of the cross within it’s redemptive wrappings,
Judy, how often I’ve seen you “press toward the light . . .” Your candor and skill with language here resonates deep in my soul: “God’s thorough search for Himself in us” and your final sentence: “The gift carries the weight of the cross within its redemptive wrappings.” You’ve captured the profound. Thank you. And may the new year bring more and more light! Love you!
I can imagine Mary wondering if she had the strength to keep on as she traveled while pregnant and then left in the night with her newborn. And yet …God always present. Always leading. He’s with you too. In this time of waiting and wondering.
This pooran cried and the Lord heard. -Psalm 34.
The song touched my heart and soul. Peace to you this New Year, my friend
Kathleen, me too. That girl must have had just as much grit as she did innocence, daring, and devotion. I find the word Emmanuel means so much to me these days. I keep whispering it to myself. Thanks for affirming God’s abiding presence.
I’ll let Dreamer know the song touched you. A joyous, creative, fruitful New Year to you!
Laurie- beautiful ponderings…this mystery of new birth for an old sojourner has marked my journey this winter…what would it be like to hold a newborn “king” in my arms, in my heart… or a newborn faith …to have this newborn joy smile up at me from his slumber
Oh Kel, yes, what would it be like?! I wish I could show you a photo of Mary and Jesus from the book The Nativity (stills from the movie) that moved me to tears today. Mary looks so young and tender, exhausted and daunted, and the look on the baby’s face is priceless. Sounds like you’re having a lovely, questioning?, deeply contemplative winter season. Blessings on the months ahead. May the silence hold you and new work spill from you . . .
Bill’s music fills me with peace. Such a good way to begin a new year.
Thanks for posting this Laurie.
Ted and I continue in prayer for you and Bill as you deal with some challenges.
Me, too, Val. I love listening to him. My favorite musician. 🙂 Thank you (and Ted) for your ongoing prayers and support. It means so much. Happy New Year, friends!
Laurie. What a very meaningful entry. I had ‘t thought of these questions.
Also I’m not aware what Bill is going through right. Ow. Prayers for. Oth of you.
Jan Hicks
Hi dear Jan, and happy Happy New Year to you and Dave! Thanks so much for reading the post and not only leaving a thoughtful response but offering prayers as well.
Laurie, what comforting music and words to begin this brand new year. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.
Gail, what a gift to hear from you today! Thanks for reading and leaving a comment. May your New Year brim with comfort, opportunity, and beauty!
Prayers and blessings to both of you, a Blessed New Year also from someone who will be starting a new but familiar journey with cancer. Found out yesterday i have prostate cancer, bone scan and cat scan in the next couple of days. Trusting the Lord knowing He wll take me through this.
Oh Rick, I’m saddened to hear you must wage this battle again. May God’s healing power and presence envelop you in tangible ways in the grueling days ahead. And thank you for your prayers and blessings!
Thank you both for enriching our spirits through your gifts of music !
Angela, thanks for listening. And a happy, holy, healthy New Year to you!
Thank you Laurie, this breaks me open… may the fragrance of Jesus flow thru. Happy New Year with much love to you both!
Thanks for stopping by on New Year’s Day. I love the image your words create. Our love to you, always!