advent meditation (free verse)

Close your eyes and imagine.
You are a shepherd.
It's nighttime.
You are shivering, hungry
And maybe you have a little too much to drink,
You know, to take off the cold.

Suddenly...
You see it first...
The clouds start to swirl round,
And light,
First only dimly,
Is trying to push through the clouds.
And there's a sound.
You can't really hear it.
It's more like
You feel it...
Right in the centre of your chest.
You look around at the other shepherds
To see if they're having the same experience.
And sure enough,
They're looking around at you
To see if you're having the same experience.
In an instant,
The swirling clouds explode into light;
Light that's so bright
You can't even see the ground when you try to turn away...
And you know
That you are going to die.

But you don't die,
And soon you hear music,
And voices,
And if you squint your eyes against the light
You can just see what looks like bodies...
People that seem to be made of light...
Swimming all over the sky.

But against the backdrop of singing,
There is one of these people speaking to you.
And you can understand what is being said,

"Don't be afraid.
Listen!
I bring you good news
Of great joy
For all people.
For your sake,
Today, in the City of David,
A saviour is born.
This saviour is the promised Messiah,
The Lord.
And this is how you will know him.
You'll find the baby wrapped in bands of cloth
And lying in a manger."

Well, this is unbelievable
But you've seen it!
An angel
(I guess it's an angel)
Actually talks to you!
So you and your shepherd buddies head to town
To find this baby-king.
When you do find him
It's not what you expected,
But it kinda makes sense all of a sudden...
Why else would the messengers of God
Bring this news
To a bunch of drunk, smelly, old shepherds!?!
Because this God's focus and priorities
Are different from everyone else's.

Imagine the smells in the barn.
Sure, there's clean straw in the corner
Where Jesus and Mary and Joseph are staying,
But the rest is just a stinky barn.
And the baby is crying.
You don't know why;
Maybe because he's hungry
Or something else equally unpleasant.
Maybe even because the cattle are lowing,
But I doubt it.
The cows and the donkey
And the few sheep that are there
Have no clue who this is
That is sharing this place with them...
Or maybe they do.
Do you?

As you are welcomed in
By the shy young girl to see her baby,
Do you know who this is...
This one you've come to see...
As you look over the edge of the food trough?
Is this little thing,
That still has that sweet smell of a new-born,
That still needs his mother's breasts
To give him food to live...
Is this the same one who will say,
"Come to me if you are weary
And have a heavy burden,
And I will give you rest"?
This weak, powerless, tiny baby
Who can't wrap his hand around your finger,
And needs to have his dirty diaper changed...
Is this the one who will say,
"Whoever believes in me
Will not perish
But have everlasting life"
And
"This is my body, broken for you"?

It's hard for us to see
The connection between
The joy of Christmas and the tears of Good Friday.
The light of Advent and the darkness of Lent.
A child's birth
With which we had nothing to do,
And the crucifixion of a saviour
With which we have everything to do.
What else can we say but,
"Lord, Jesus Christ,
Son of the Living God,
Have mercy on me,
A sinner...
Have mercy on us."