In the silence of Advent, we are called to joy:
"Listen, I bring you news of great joy."
Joy is the transparency of grace,
the overflow of Christ's presence into us,
into the lives of others.
Joy is a gift, the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
"Christ's joy is the sharing in the unfathomable joy,
both divine and human,
which is at the heart of Jesus Christ glorified."
The deep, quiet joy of the gift
of goodness of life,
of one's family and friends,
of loving and being loved,
of holiness,
of the Eucharist.
We were created for joy!
Do you sometimes want to wake up to the singularity
we once were?
so compact nobody
needed a bed, or food or money —
nobody hiding in the school bathroom
or home alone
pulling open the drawer
where the pills are kept.
For every atom belonging to me as good
Belongs to you. Remember?
There was no Nature. No
them. No tests
to determine if the elephant
grieves her calf or if
the coral reef feels pain. Trashed
oceans don't speak English or Farsi or French;
would that we could wake up to what we were
— when we were ocean and before that
to when sky was earth, and animal was energy, and rock was
liquid and stars were space and space was not
at all — nothing
before we came to believe humans were so important
before this awful loneliness.
Can molecules recall it?
what once was? before anything happened?
No I, no We, no one. No was
No verb no noun
only a tiny tiny dot brimming with
is is is is is
All everything home