worship tricks [first series]

no 29 : magnificat and incarnation

if you are in the mood for a couple of seasonal reflections have a look at vaux greyspace. in particular i like the magnificat, divine womb and the reflection on the incarnation. these are below...

magnificat

My soul reaches out to God.
My Spirit rejoices in my Saviour
God sees that the humble heart is open
And implants his vision into it.
We are wombs of the Divine
Through giving birth to vision all generations can be blessed.
Those who revere God will find her merciful
But the proud will see only judgements.
Those who empty themselves of selfishness will be lifted up to God,
But those who cling to power cannot be lifted.
Those who are satiated have no room to receive
But the hungry will be filled with good things.

Divine Womb

God joined with Mary and created
The divine fertilised human
Nestling into her womb, nourished by her blood

God joins with us and creates
A divine planted idea, an inspiration
Which settles in us, and feeds

But after the ecstasy of impregnation
9 months of waiting, hoping, growing
The invisible inside, waiting to be born

And while we wait, difficulties arise
Herods try to destroy
Authorities try to rationalise
Husbands doubt,
While redemption gestates

We are all wombs of the divine
Pregnant with that which God envisions us
How will we feed it?
Who will it most resemble, us or God?
How long are we prepared to be patient?

We wait.
We wait
We wait for the invisible to become visible
For the seed to flourish
For vision to be born

Incarnation Meditation

Emmanuel.
God with us.

Through torn sky shepherds spy heaven singing
And through this wound, God falls into hay screaming
Only astrologers scan outer depths to follow this bright trajectory
Burning up in my atmospheres.
Cold vacuums resisting God's re-entry.

Christ.
In very nature God.
Stripped of all vestures of Deity
No glory, no majesty, no power, no knowledge.
Abandoned by heaven.
The almighty, become so small as to be born human.
Receives gifts
The first reminders
Suggestions of an identity.

The saviour of the world.
Born in a 2-bit village, in a cave under the family home.
Ostracised by his ancestors.
His mother shamed.
Ignored by the religious.
Recognised only by farm-hands and foreign astrologers.

We welcomed God in the same way we dispatched him.
Deserted by friends
Rejected by the godly
Abandoned by God
Helpless
Exposed to the elements
And only 2 people to recognise him: a thief and an occupying soldier
The underclass. The foreigner.

In birth Christ was offered 3 gifts.
Gold for a king
Frankincense for a God
And Myrrh for a mortal.

In birth Christ was offered 3 gifts
But in death all gifts were refused.
In death Christ becomes gift.

Where are we this Christmas?
Are we Magi, searching in strange places for signs of God?
Are we offering gifts, unaware of their deeper meanings?
Are we the establishment, trying to shut out what we fear.

We are all of these.
But we are called to become the faithful wanderer.
To become the body of Christ.
Freely accepting gifts.
Living and dying to become gift for others.