As Advent draws to a close and Christmas is upon us, I thought it would be helpful during these hectic days to reflect on the darkness of Advent in our time of preparation.  Darkness can reveal much that is obscured in the light.

The Incarnation always brings good news, but it never minimizes the realness of our pain. Advent declares the hope that a light is coming, but first it declares the truth that the world right now is so very dark. —Stephanie Duncan Smith

Song of the Soul  By John of the Cross, trans. By Mirabai Starr

On a dark night, inflamed by love-longing. O exquisite risk.  Undetected, I slipped away. My house, at last, grown still.

Secure in the darkness, I climb the secret ladder in disguise.  O exquisite risk. Concealed by the darkness, my house, at last, grown still.

That sweet night, a secret, nobody saw me. I did not see a thing.  No other light, no other guide than the one burning in my heart.

This light leads the way more clearly than the risen son to where he was waiting for me. The one I knew so intimately, in a place where no one could find us.

O night that guided me. O night, sweeter than sunrise.  O night that joins lover with beloved. Lover transformed in beloved.

Upon my blossoming breast, which I cultivated just for him, he drifted into sleep.  And while I caressed him, a cedar breeze touched the air.

Wind blew down from the tower, parting the locks of his hair.  With his gentle hand he wounded my neck, and all my senses were suspended.

I lost myself, forgot myself. I lay my face against the beloved’s face.  Everything fell away. And I left myself behind, abandoning my cares among the lilies, forgotten. 

 

Have a blessed and Merry Christmas