Naming the baby: Advent poems 1

 

Isaiah 9:6    
And His Name Shall Be Called…

1.   Wonderful Counselor

Jesus,
you are
finder of lost objects,
restorer of broken relationships,
source of wise decisions,
revealer of hidden motives,
strike breaker,
code cracker.

Lying there in a feeding trough,
disguised in swaddling cloths,
the Uncontainable contained
for our need.
Wonderful Counselor,
we bow.

2.  Mighty God

What kind of name
is "Mighty God" for a baby?
The cards and crèches immortalize You
as Infant,
manger-bedded, shepherd adored.
But helpless.  New.

Enable us, now at Christmas,
to see beyond the stable
-- the Man,
         healer, miracle-worker,
         teacher,
-- the Broken One,
         wounded, lifted up,
-- the Risen Lord,
         defeater of darkness.

Baby Jesus, almightiness
         made vulnerable,
         we adore.


3.  Eternal Father

When Dad died
a light flickered
and went out.
That was years ago
but I still dread
the empty house,
regret the kids
never knew their granddad.
Though time blunts pain,
I guess I still need a father.

"Eternal Father" seems a strange
name for a baby.
To parent, protect, nourish
and educate?
To tell me secrets,
discipline me,
urge me toward growth?
The Baby?  My Father?

Yes.  Of course.

I feel like I've come home.
I lift my hallelujah chorus,
a hilarious lullaby
to joke and mystery.
Father, forever yet new,
accept my laughter.


4.  Prince of Peace

"Silent night," they sing.
"Sleep in heavenly peace."
A story book song
for a star-studded dream.
That night wasn't silent
(pax romana not withstanding).
Bethlehem teamed with people,
impatient, demanding,
wanting to be in their own homes.
Inns throbbed with activity,
wine flowed, and in one dim corner
a woman moaned in childbirth.

That night wasn't silent,
and neither are ours.
The world convulses
in a chaos of crises.
The newscaster's voice is grim,
and people fear the dark.
Here at my house
my grandson cries out in nightmare,
and insomnia stalks these rooms.

Prince of Peace,
you came to Bethlehem
in the clash and crash of life
as it is.
Show us your face.
Teach us the strength of your tranquility,
the power of your humility
         that bent to babyhood
         and still bends to us.

Prince Jesus,
baby and Lord,
we kneel.
Be Shalom to us.
Here.
Now.