This poem is a response to a Poetry Party that is hosted regularly at Abbey of the Arts. This particular 'party' as part of Advent is about true joy…that essence deeper than happiness. It is the bedrock from which we grow as children, then learn to dampen it down/dummy it down with mere 'happiness'. Finally, as we begin the descent of midlife, or do the work of stripping away layers of defenses, can again become the ground from which we move and have our being.
Like many others, since childhood I’ve had a hard time with the Christmas holidays. All the ghosts of Christmas past come creeping in, and I struggle with an inane emptiness, a discordant sadness that has nothing to do with now, but rather some emotional imprint on my brain associated with all that the holiday brings.
So this year, I’m wanting to make the holidays the same as every other day: an opportunity to remove the barriers to love.
The radical party we are invited to
requires
a turning of our minds
inward and outward
towards the Light
birthing a knowing
Beyond all measure
Beyond all hope
We are made of the stardust of Love.
The Heart of creation.
That’s all we are.
Each interaction
each potential source of dis-ease
hustle bustle busyness crazy driving too much too many gatherings I wish it would all go away
can, with a slight repentance
a minuscule turning of our mind
become the Manger
the Crux
the place where God is born
and stardust is made manifest.
“We are all meant to be mothers of God - God is always needing to be born.” –Meister Eckhart