Tag Archives: Christmas

A prayer for Christmas Day

Posted on December 25, 2022 by Rosalind C Hughes

Gracious God, We hear of Christmas by candlelight in Kiev; we think on the borrowed cave, rude shelter in which to bear life. We hear of twins reunited – thank God! – with their family before Christmas. We cannot help wonder … Continue reading →

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A perfect angel

Posted on December 24, 2022 by Rosalind C Hughes

That was when the angel first realized that they might just have made a smidgen of an error, a bit of a mistake.

“Not that way,” the angel cried into the increasingly empty night. “You’re supposed to run towards Bethlehem! A baby has been born this night and, oh, what have I done?” Continue reading →

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Nativity

Posted on December 24, 2022 by Rosalind C Hughes

Not by might the almighty shoulders a way into the world, but on borrowed strength, the muscles of his mother conspiring to bring him to birth;  Not by right does he claim his throne but humbles himself to the stable stall and is fed by … Continue reading →

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The gift

Posted on December 23, 2022 by Rosalind C Hughes

Wrapped in flesh and tenderness – the fragile feet, the faltering hands – a hunger was born, squalling for a landscape flowing with milk and kindness. Little did the wise know, still less kings that this small and helpless this … Continue reading →

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Awaiting glory

Posted on December 22, 2022 by Rosalind C Hughes

The stars have turned cold awaiting their chance to shine shrouded in clouds watching the child swaddled in hope and fear crossing the desert braving the sea lullabied in a bomb shelter –a mother wearied by the wake father haunted by the absence of a ghost spirit sibling … Continue reading →

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God’s gift

Posted on December 18, 2022 by Rosalind C Hughes

We do not get to choose whether or not God loves us. Whether we feel worthy or wormy, God loves us, and we cannot make it otherwise. Continue reading →

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All in the family way

Posted on December 26, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

It seems as though the depth and strength and sheer closeness of God’s love for us defies any single image of relationship that we can dredge up and dress in poetic language. God is our father and our mother and our lover. 
And then, and then, God became flesh, and dwelt among us. Continue reading →

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Emmanuel

Posted on December 24, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

Emmanuel Away from the crush of the crowd and the hubbub of the inn, aside in the stableChrist is born;in the silence that prepares for his first breath,God speaks: “I am with you.”

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Not there yet

Posted on January 3, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

In recent months, we turned 2020 into a scapegoat, piled on our woes: a global pandemic, economic uncertainty, health worries, the inability of our election magically to make everyone finally agree; even murder hornets. But the year has turned, and has a new name, and we are still some way from the solid ground of familiarity, of home. … It’s going to take patience to find our new beginnings this year. Continue reading →

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The first breath

Posted on December 25, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

scented with humanity – the particulates of life – held for what seemed like eternity, let loose at last (his mother, astonished at the audacity of her body, gasped) with the force of a singular creation, splitting the skies, setting … Continue reading →

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