ADVENT 4:  MYSTERY
by Timothy Haut

It is the stirring
In the night places,
The quick gasp of wonder
As the first snow gently
Coats the branch beyond the window,
The glow at the center of the candle flame
Which burns inside the heart.
It is the tiptoeing
Around the sleeping child, or cat,
The immense love that explodes,
Like a surprise, at a baby’s birth.
It is the warmth of an embrace,
The silence of a prayer with no words,
The simple joy at the moment of awakening.
All around is this
Mystery,
The gift of ordinary life,
All beautiful things
That make us seek
That hidden hand, that holy heart
At the center of this blessed and broken world.
It is love
That makes us sing--
Heaven and nature, fields and floods,
Rocks, hills and plains,
My heart!
All sing
For love, for love, for love’s sake,
For this given, glorious Mystery.
Joy to the World!

(Comments to Tim at timothyhaut@yahoo.com.)
Deep River, CT