At Christmas He Came . NaBloPoMo

Thinking and writing about "Beginnings" for an entire month is going to be a challenge.  And yet, I have found myself thinking about beginnings quite a bit in the past few days.  This morning, I went to my file cabinet to see if there was anything there to share.  I found several things which I will revise to share here as the days pass.  Today's offering is a Christmas poem that I wrote several years ago (1998). I happened to be taking a refresher course in French at the time, which accounts for all the French phrases.  Even though Christmas has passed, what better cause for beginnings than the plan of salvation revealed in Christ's birth?


[The photo at left is the stained glass window in the front of my former church in MA.  I took this when I visited there during the break.]

AT CHRISTMAS HE CAME; THIS CHRISTMAS HE MUST COME AGAIN

            

"Je dois aller."

People are always having to go away from me,

from each other,

from home, from work, from school, from play.

People are always having to go away from me (and I from them)

to other people and places.

"Je dois aller:  I must go [the imperative].

I have other things claiming my life, my time.

You're not all there is to my life.

Important, yes.  But not all.

Je dois aller."

There's nothing I can do to keep them from going;

They must.

And if I want them still in my life,

I, too, must—must accept, must acquiesce, must not pout or complain.

Ils doivent aller.  Et je dois accepter.

"Je dois venir encore."  There's another who must, too. 

"I must come again" He says.

There's a difference, though.

Those who must go, can go as they need.

But He who must come, must have an invitation; He cannot come just because He must.

Not only must He come, but He must wait.

Wait for you, for me—for us—to be ready. 

To be willing.  To be open. 

And to invite Him to come.

"Je dois venir. 

I need to come.  It is necessary.

There is nothing else claiming My life, My time.

You're all there is to My life.

You're important, yes.  And everything.

But I can't come without an invitation. 

I can ask, but I can't just come.

And yet, I must.  Je dois venir."

Christmas:  celebrating the coming of Christ—the first time.

But should it not be something more?

Must we not also anticipate His Second Coming?

Must we not prepare for—and invite—Him to come back?

The goings in our life, we have no control over.

But the comings, those we do.

"Je dois venir encore," He says.

This Christmas, let it be "Tu dois venir--You must come."