
Advent Litany
Lord Jesus, come soon!
I am stretched to breaking with waiting for you,
Beyond repair,
Though not beyond grace.
Oh, come quickly!
For though I know neither the day nor the hour,
Still, I know you will come;
That there will be a time, outside of time, when I will hold you in my arms
and you will take my face in your hands.
For you are already here within me
Though not yet here in the world.
Lord Jesus, come soon!
How am I today, I am asked,
And I respond in the only way I can:
Still pregnant with the promise of you,
You whom I have known for nine months
(perhaps longer)
and yet whom I know not at all.
Oh, come quickly!
You have searched my soul and know me,
Still in your mother’s womb,
But when I see your face you will not speak my name.
Lord Jesus, come soon!
Mother, you will say, years hence, Here is your son.
Mary, you will say to another, who will await you then
as desperately as I do now.
Oh, come quickly!
At the moment of your birth, at the dawning of that day,
I will see your face and know that your name is
Love.
And
yet
I
do
not
know
you.
_______________________
Mother, listen
Promises made in the Book of Luke
are for all babies, not just the holy ones.
(aren’t all babies holy?)
The dawn from on high will break upon us
(yea, a sword shall pierce thy own soul also)
from generation to generation
a cross, a nail
a bullet
a knee
a night and day and night again of laboring
shall pierce thy own soul also
again, as you relive the longest day and night of your own life
anew, as you are outside it this time
forevermore
a mother
pray for us now and at the hour of our death
keep these things, and ponder them in your heart
(for you know them already
the saying of them is for the speaker
not for you – the sword in your soul
has dwelt there since the annunciation
of the promise of this birth
and you knew its pain already when you said
here I am, Lord, your faithful servant)
— Erica Jacobs-Perkins
Comments(3)
Ann Elbourne says:
December 4, 2020 at 2:56 PMLovely thought-provoking poems. Thank you Erica
Vera Burt says:
December 4, 2020 at 9:51 PMThank you, Erica, for your inspirational poems.
Daddy says:
December 5, 2020 at 12:35 AMThanks for sharing your beautiful thoughts.