BY ED NORTHEN

You can’t set up walls

to confine the divine

limit the sacred

While the feast of Hanukkah

was being was celebrated

in ornate temples in Jerusalem

the true miracle was traveling

In the womb of a betrothed girl

from Nazareth to Bethlehem

Incarnation is on no one’s mind

except two impoverished travelers

perhaps wondering, doubting  

at the truth of the visitations

even with the evidence

of the swollen belly.

Realms seen and unseen

are disconnected by ordinariness

where was the angel now?

Where was the miracle

of oil lamps burning

the physical manifestation of God

Nothing extraordinary happens on the journey

no provision of heavenly manna

no Angels intervene

even when labor pains are present

human compassion is absent

there was money to be made

there is no miracle of a painless birth

no comfort of a midwife or family

not even a bed

desperate the couple is alone

except for the pigs, cows

And cold night air

None of this seems divine

except a hint, when the shepherds visit

with strange proclamations of angels

and the good news of a savior born

this is the mystery of ethereal realms

eternal omniscience in a helpless child

is the way of eternal matters

Editor’s Note: Take note how Ed Northen incorporated the miracle of the oil and burning candles into this Christmas poem since Hanukkah and Christmas fall on the same day this year.