Words of Light and Hope from Jane McLarty

Words of Light and Hope by Jane McLarty

 Happy new year! This Sunday we begin our church year again as we turn our thoughts during the season of Advent to the birth of Jesus. The Gospel readings for this year will come from Matthew – the Gospel that begins by calling Jesus ‘Emmanuel’, meaning ‘God with us’ (Mt 1:23) and ends with Jesus himself telling us, ‘I am with you always, to the end of the age’(Mt 28:20). This season especially we reflect on the meaning of God himself entering his own world to be with us, not simply for us. Mary Oliver reflects on just how we might welcome God in, in this poem from her collection ‘Thirst’.

 

Advent Poem

Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed but

still nothing is as shining as it should be

for you. Under the sink, for example, is an

uproar of mice – it is the season of their

many children. What shall I do? And under the eaves

and through the walls the squirrels

have gnawed their ragged entrances – but it is the season

when they need shelter, so what shall I do? And

the raccoon limps into the kitchen and opens the cupboard

while the dog snores, the cat holds the pillow;

what shall I do? Beautiful is the new snow falling

in the yard and the fox who is staring boldly

up the path, to the door. And I still believe you will

come, Lord; you will, when I speak to the fox,

the sparrow, the lost dog, the shivering sea-goose, know

that I am really speaking to you whenever I say,

as I do all morning and afternoon: Come in, Come in.