Sunday, December 25, 2022

Blessings for the 12 Days of Christmas

May you know the peace of Christmas
Like the arc of a Swallow’s wing in flight
Or the spaces between the falling snow

May you know the noise of Christmas
Clamoring
Laughing
Ridiculous like the fictive drummer boy
Or the over-the-top toy from a wayward uncle
The whoosh of wind outside a warm home
Astonished bursts punctuating the night
the shouts of shepherds

May you know the silence of Christmas
… of the word pleading
Of answers that deflect wrath
Like the pause between the last cry of birthing and the first cry of birth

May you know the joy of Christmas
sticky hands on cheeks
The scratch of new skates
A tail thudding on the floor
an old miser born again

May you know the love of Christmas
Like a parent swaying in the night
The sparrow resting in the eaves

May you know the challenge of Christmas
Demands we are told are light and easy
Terrible creatures telling you not to fear

May you know the extravagance of Christmas
overstuffed turkey
apples syrupy on the edges of the pies
Green, blue, red, silver, gold papers
Round yon mothers

May you know the light of Christmas
On the trees
And corners
Like unreplenished oil
Eternal, fixed, and unfixed,
Like a comet scarring the sky
Light that darkness did not comprehend

May you know the darkness of Christmas
Deep, troubling
Revealing of stars, casting off shadows.
Intimate
May you know the hope of Christmas
Weary
Wondering
Curious
Rushing down the stairs or
Fighting the long defeat
or unashamed like a Heron

May you know the courage of Christmas
Like a cardinal red against the snow