Advent, day twenty two.

When I try to write dialogue, words are mostly shaped by two things; the character of the participants and the context they find themselves in. Applied to the Christmas story, we only have the merest hints of the characters of Mary and Joseph, but what a context. Two frightened people, sheltering in a stable, she close to term and about the give birth to a baby. Forget the portents and the back story Forget the angels and the prophecies and what we are left with is a man and the woman he loves, holding on to each other.

Dear friends, not everyone is blessed with companionship, certainly not for life. But we can all recognise the beauty in the story of two people, holding each other close and pushing the frightening world away.

Sometimes the story looks right back at us.

 

The stable, BC

 

Hold me close, my gentle love

The night is cold and hollow

Make me a cave

Within your arms

And deep within I’ll

Burrow

 

See that floor all trodden down?

Let it be our carpet

Make me finest silk

Like buttermilk

From this feed-sack

Blanket

 

Let’s whisper dreams of things to come

When we are done with caring

When what we have

Will be enough

With a little spare for

Sharing

 

The light from stars is far away

It takes a long time falling

So just for now

It is enough

To hear your gentle

Snoring