In a world where we have pushed the heavens into the farthest recesses of the universe
And we filled the pores in the world where angels and demons, magic and mystery could enter in
Filling each transcended node with the immanent certainty of rationality and reason
Plugging ourselves into our own isolation connected through patterns of numbers and light
We created a world of which we were our own new gods claiming the generative power of words
Yet, as our own new gods we find ourselves being consumed by the hungry creation we unleashed
Wired into our wireless networks, completely disconnected in our continual connection
Yearning for hope in the tyranny of the soulless world in which nothing is sacred
Yet, there is a memory of a different story from a different time that tugs at my thoughts
Of the transcendent coming to occupy the immanent, of the creator incarnating the creation
Of the infinite coming to occupy the mundane and the ordinary, of making sacred the secular
And perhaps in this season as we remember the narrative of the Word that become flesh
Living among us and daring to enter into a creation that has lost its dreams of tomorrow
That the light may enlighten the present darkness of our permanently lighted world
That we may dream of the truth beyond the facts and the vision beyond our perception
The poetry of a God who invades the impersonal world in the form of a person
Who brings acceptance in the midst of rejection and love in the midst of hatred
In the midst of our perceived wisdom the wisdom of God may appear foolish
And strength comes masquerading as weaknesses and power in the guise of powerlessness
If the Word becomes incarnate and lives among us it comes not to conquer and enslave
But it does come to offer us a dream of a different world and to shape for us a new reality
While it may describe and illuminate and deconstruct the world we shaped for ourselves
It comes as the wisdom that holds the creation together and narrates for us a new story
And in the light of this enfleshed Word we are renamed and our stories have a new frame
Where the sacred inhabits our secular world and life takes on a sacramental reality
And from the soul of the new creation emerges again and ancient hope that we are not alone
For Emmanuel has come and our God is with us, we are among those God favored ones
The ancient angelic host announced in a long ago age when our world still had a place for them.