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| So Slow I Fell Asleep |
This sharing will be very brief. I've been having problems with my computer all day. It has slowed down to a snail's pace and everything is taking a long time to get done. Everything was fine a day ago and suddenly this. I fear my computer has a virus, but my supervirus program denies it is so.
Perhaps it is time for a new computer (just in time for Christmas!). It doesn't seem my computer is that old, but maybe computer years are like dog years. As a child I was told every year of a dog's life was equivalent to 7 human years. Maybe every year of a computer's life is equivalent to 25 human years. So my computer is now 100 years old in human years! Expect a slow-down?
Ironically, I've been wrestling with and advising the wisdom of Advent as a time to slow down and watch and pray. Has my computer been converted to this wisdom and is just helping me observe the Advent Season?
I thought I might at least give you something of substance in this post. I looked up a poem in my files (once they opened). It is a wonderful little poem. I think also how poems invite us to slow down and pay attention to their message. They do this by using unexpected words and phrasings. Sometimes we have to re-read a sentence to really comprehend it---if we comprehend at all. Here's such a poem, appropriate for the prepartion for Chrsitmas and its celebration of the First Coming of the Savior:
First Coming
God did not wait till the world was ready,
till nations were at peace.
God came when the Heavens were unsteady,
and prisoners cried out for release.
God did not wait for the perfect time.
God came when the need was deep and great.
God dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine.
God did not wait till hearts were pure.
In joy God came to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame,
God came, and God’s light would not go out.
God came to a world which did not mesh,
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
the Maker of the stars was born.
We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs with joyful praise,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain,
God came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!
- Madeleine L’Engle
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