A reflection for Christmas Day
And was there pain when you were born?
Blood and water and torn flesh?
We imagine an angel delivering you
The Saviour
Clean and ready wrapped
Into the calm arms of a fragrant mother
So
We imagine you can be born in us
But
We don't want to wait with expectancy
We don't want to travel an exhausting road
We don't want to arrive without a welcome
We don't want to be overlooked and undervalued
Put out in the cold
We don't expect the pain
We don't want the labour
We don't want the indignities
We imagine the clean, the calm and the fragrant
But
Giving birth to the Good News
Is patient, painful work
And unspeakable joy.