—Anonymous Photo
THE BIRTH OF WONDER
—Madeleine L’Engle (1918-2007)
When I am able to pray with the mind in the heart, I am joyfully able to affirm the irrationality of Christmas.
As I grow older
I get surer
Man’s heart is colder,
His life no purer.
As I grow steadily
More austere
I come less readily
To Christmas each year.
I can’t keep taking
Without a thought
Forced merrymaking
And presents bought
In crowds and jostling.
Alas, there’s naught
In empty wassailing
Where oblivion’s sought.
Oh, I’d be waiting
With quiet fasting
Anticipating
A joy more lasting,
And so I rhyme
With no apology
During this time
Of eschatology;
Judgment and warning
Come like thunder.
But now is the hour
When I remember
An infant’s power
On a cold December.
Midnight is dawning
And the birth of wonder.
—From The Ordering of Love: The New and Collected Poems of Madeleine L’Engle
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—Medusa, wishing you a glimpse of wonder…
For more about Madeleine L'Engle, go to www.madeleinelengle.com/madeleine-lengle/.
