Christmas Day

Easter, we are told, is the greatest feast,

Marking the crucial event in world history--

A person triumphant over death, and

In triumphing over death

Offering us the great gift, an invitation

To share in his Resurrection. 

Too complex, you say.

Let us dwell on the softer and warmer feast

Celebrating the birth of Christ in Bethlehem,

A word rounded, like yon virgin,

Meek and mild,

Featuring a manger, a star,

Rich wise men, tired from traveling so far,

Shepherds with their lambs,

A donkey, pondering the upcoming flight to Egypt, and

Joseph, the good man, baffled (as we are)

By all the mysteries flourishing around him.

--December 25, 2013