Warm waters.
It was my first resting place.
My first ocean.
Unborn, yet continuing to form,
feeding off my mother,
twisting and turning,
I was the only inhabitant:
king of the universe.I heard no deafening voices.
No one asking me for favors.
No need dancing in from of my developing eyes.
My hunger for food, for sleep, for energetic movement,
All met, without my asking.People pass me by.
They do not see me.
They do not know what lies hidden
in the belly of a teenage girl:
Divine Life itself, pulsating, creating,
sleeping, dreaming, laughing.
The resources of the inner world are mine.
The riches of the umbilical cord feed me
and strengthen me;
without them, I will die.
When her waters burst forth from her body,
I had no choice but to be born.
To remain a tiny mass of flesh wedged inside a womb,
even if possible, would mean sure and certain death.
And so, it is with you on your journey.
There will be times in your life when you will have to act
or you, too, will taste death.
You will need to choose to take the next step of your
journey, even if blinded by fear.
Find yourself a soul mate, a mid-wife,
One, whose gentle nudging, whose sweet pressure
helps you to give birth to unknown treasures that lay
deep within you.
Like you, I am no longer a child in the womb.
I now live as Lord of time and history.
I claim the resources that I will need,
the world’s umbilical cord,
resources of the planet that you have called your own.
They are mine, from my Father’s realm
to be claimed and used for creativity,
not consumption;
for love, not greed;
for the whole human family, not just a few.
Come, join with me now.
Meet me on the road to Bethlehem.
Adapted from Portrait of a Woman, by Herbert O’Driscoll
~
And we walk beyond Bethlehem.
December 26 will be the last Sunday
that we will worship at Holy Trinity.
I have asked the Altar Guild to strip the altar at the end of the service, not dressed in black as on Maundy Thursday eve.
Rather, they are to be in Christmas red and green, and as they take all the Eucharistic vessels off the altar,
we will sing a litany of Christmas carols.
I have invited the retired clergy who have served you and celebrated at this altar over the years to participate in
our last worship service. Those who are able to share the service with me will be vested in alb and stole,
and together we will con-celebrate the Eucharist on this last Sunday of December, 2021.
Be with us.
Peace.
Nance