On the Mystery of the Incarnation

An Advent offering

On the Mystery of the Incarnation
By Denise Levertov

It's when we face for a moment
the worst our kind can do, and shudder to know
the taint in our own selves, that awe
cracks the mind's shell and enters the heart:
not to a flower, not to a dolphin,
to no innocent form
but to this creature vainly sure
it and no other is god-like, God
(out of compassion for our ugly
failure to evolve) entrusts,
as guest, as brother,
the Word.

Thanks to JourneywithJesus.net. If you are looking for a last-minute Christmas gift for a thoughtful, spiritually-minded person, consider Levertov's The Stream and the Sapphire.

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