* Theotokos pray for me
#HappyBirthdayVirginMary
+-----These Things In My Heart; The Thoughts of Mary After Hosting The Visiting Shepherds, Holding Jesus in Her Arms.
Bombastic, they say.
An audience of angels heralding
my womb with jubilant song,
in the outlines of their voices I can
trace echoes of the heart cries of
my people for long and lost
dreams of David once deemed forsaken
to now be resurrected (God finally
smiling down on us from Sinai), Jerusalem
in all its glory: maidens with timbrels in hand
dancing while a King of Hebrew blood
rules over us justly, again. Destiny
in my bosom gazing
fondly back at me, fortune sucking
at my breasts with olive skin and
dark brown eyes, his tiny hands clasping
my index finger with loving curiosity.
(My babbling baby, bringing forth
gentle summer winds whispering joy
into my ear at night when all is quiet.)
What does all this mean? When
three rustic shepherds with fire
in their eyes stumble over gnarling oxen
and bleating sheep as Joseph,
full of foreboding, shields me
from sudden and unknown visitors
in the night? Could it be that hope
finally stands in the balance with Roman
oppression, flaming swords of angels
with chariots and catapults of Caesar,
that our prayers have been heard
and the world itself
has come rising to their defense?
I imagine a peaceful world for my son
wherein old prophecies
come to bear before our eyes,
a lion nesting with lambs outside
our doors,
and that his entire life will be spent
working towards the restoration of all
Jewish dignity ravaged
by Assyria
by Babylon
by Egypt and Philistia
by Rome, that he reflects back
the desire he sees in my eyes for Israel
united at last.
------Luke 2:7-19
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart
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