The Mystery Continues

Dan Clendenin, from the web site, Journey With Jesus, selected a number of poems with spiritual themes and challenges. I came across this one the other day when thinking about Epiphany as the conclusion of the Christmas season and the beginning of taking the Word to the world. It is by Denise Levertov (1923–1997) and lays bear for us the miracle that Epiphany brought to the world.

On the Mystery of the Incarnation

It's when we face for a moment
the worst our kind can do, and shudder to know
the taint in our own selves, that awe
cracks the mind's shell and enters the heart:
not to a flower, not to a dolphin,
to no innocent form
but to this creature vainly sure
it and no other is god-like, God
(out of compassion for our ugly
failure to evolve) entrusts,
as guest, as brother,
the Word.

God's Preference

Great line:
God’s preferred philological form.
Billy Kangas on Patheos

Translated:
God's preference for "God's Word" is "in flesh"
We call it "Incarnation" and it is quite a truth!

In Context on Patheos (presentation edited for emphasis):

Don’t get me wrong, Jesus’ birth is a significant part of Christmas, but it’s not the primary point. This can be seen in the Gospel reading for Christmas day, which is John 1:1–18. This passage nowhere mentions Jesus birth account but instead is an account of the eternal generation of Christ and the advent of his light in the world.

• Christmas is not simply Jesus’ birthday, but a feast of the incarnation.
• Christmas is a sacrament; it is a time in which we remember the highest outward sign of the inward grace God offers to the world.
• God gives expression of his love in the universal language of flesh and blood, and offers the world a grace that communicates the totality of human existence –
  
  humanity itself.

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