No room at the inn?
Greet the Christ-child, open your heart to radical hospitality and love
I’ve been asking myself the same reflective questions every Christmas Eve since 1989 …
What gift do I bring to the baby Jesus, the Christ Child? How can I put skin on God? How does God want to come alive in me, and be birthed in me, in a new way this year?
I invite you to reflect with me this season.
How could you birth love in your life and world this year?
In John O’Donohue’s poem, The Nativity, he writes,
“Someone is coming ashore inside her,
A face deciphers itself from water,
And she curves around the gathering wave,
Opening to offer the life it craves.”
What or who wants to come ashore in you this year? How can you birth love into the world?
What simple ways can you be hospitable, in greeting people, of opening the door of possibility to yourself, to your family and your friends, to those you need to forgive, to strangers? How is love coming ashore in you?
My thoughts this Christmas Eve, after a long walk at the beach, and that will continue to refine during the 12 days of Christmas leading to Epihany …
This year, I offer the gift of my “yes” to ambiguity and curiosity of the unknown. I wrap myself in gentleness as I grieve, choose kindness before judgment when I experience discord and disconnect. I will honor my own soul journey, desires, and capacities, even when I may disappoint another. I can put skin on God by first choosing love – not a love that is a quiet don’t rock the boat submission, but instead, vulnerable and fierce love made visible in action, through listening and presence, by showing up for myself, my family, and that which I’m called to create and show up with response-ability. Through these Twelve Days of Christmas, I will unwrap and open the present of how God desires to be birthed in me—with a willingness to let go, lean into, and embrace whatever is revealed.
As we begin the Twelve Days of Christmas feasting that culminate on January 6th, Epiphany, I offer you peace and blessings.
Peace be with you friends.
Journaling prompts
Set aside half an hour, find a quiet spot or go for a walk, and choose three questions for reflection, then post a comment …
Is there a spiritual insight or yearning coming ashore in me?
What life-affirming gift can I offer to the baby Jesus, the Christ Child, through my daily actions?
How might I put skin on God—Jesus—with how I show up in everyday life?
How does Spirit want to come alive in me, and be birthed in a new way this year?
Where do I experience hospitality and grace?
Do I greet others with suspicion and guardedness, or openheartedness?
Does my life energy reflect scarcity or abundance?
Who specifically might I forgive or be more welcoming to?
What is one action step I will choose to do?
The Nativity
by John O'Donohue, from Conamara Blues
No man reaches where the moon touches a woman.
Even the moon leaves her when she opens
Deeper into the ripple in her womb
That encircles dark, to become flesh and bone.
Someone is coming ashore inside her,
A face deciphers itself from water,
And she curves around the gathering wave,
Opening to offer the life it craves.
In a corner stall of pilgrim strangers,
She falls and heaves, holding a tide of tears.
A red wire of pain feeds through every vein,
Until night unweaves and the child reaches dawn.
Outside each other now, she sees him first,
Flesh of her flesh, her dreamt son safe on earth.
Kindly share your thoughts to one of the journaling prompts, or to ...
What simple ways can you be hospitable, in greeting people, of opening the door of possibility to yourself, to your family and your friends, to those you need to forgive, to strangers? How is love coming ashore in you?