Homeless humanity, hopeless, adrift,
under Roman rule, reeling, sad,
was drunk with despair, its dying gods silent,
its Stoics, so stern, strong for no one,
its Epicureans jaded, eating joyfree.
Homeless Deity, helpless, awake,
in a crude cradle, crying loud,
was greeted gladly, a god alive,
by the magi kneeling, Majesty serving,
by the shepherds, stinky, souls ajoy.
God - now man, glorious, humble.
History - now cloven by a hero divine.
Our secret longings - now suddenly fulfilled.
In a star-lit stable, swaddled tight,
on a Bethlehem backstreet, is Home.
This poem was inspired by G.K. Chesterton, in particular this part in The Everlasting Man:
"No other story, no pagan legend or philosophical anecdote or historical event, does in fact affect any of us with that peculiar and even poignant impression produced on us by the word Bethlehem. No other birth of a god or childhood of a sage seems to us to be Christmas or anything like Christmas. It is either too cold or too frivolous, or too formal and classical, or too simple and savage, or too occult and complicated. Not one of us, whatever his opinions, would ever go to such a scene with the sense that he was going home."
Additionally, Chesterton wrote a Christmas poem, which I had not read for a while until after I completed my piece. His poem is much better than mine - so much so that I considered scrapping mine or overhauling it. Well, I decided I don't really want to do either right now. :D Thanks for reading.
This was originally posted under the title "Hypostatic Union".
Thanks to @geke for her comments on this piece.
Thanks to @geekorner for his feedback and suggestions on this piece.
Thanks to the Isle of Write for providing a place for great discussions about all things writing.
Going (?) Mad
Endeavor
Humility's Victory
art courtesy of @PegasusPhysics
I think I would disagree with Chesterton, simply in that I believe Jerusalem to be a larger “hub of importance”, so to speak.
Yeah, I understand. There are a number of things I disagree with him about (he was Catholic, I am Protestant, just for starters), but I really like how he used words and how he saw the world. Reading his stuff has helped me look at things differently and, I think, better.
I'm glad you didn't scrap it! A beautiful piece. I love the way "Homeless Deity, helpless, awake,/in a crude cradle, crying loud" brings home the vulnerability of being human, even for God.
Thanks! I appreciate it. :)
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