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THE HEART–IN–WAITING

YULETIDE IN ZARA HAS BEEN BLEAK, AND SO MUCH HAS already gone wrong that people are afraid about what will happen in the new year.

But whatever happens begins in our hearts, doesn’t it? I’ve made this song about Jesus before He was born.

Jesus listened in whispering wood:
“I am pale blossom, I am blood berry,
I am rough bark, I am sharp thorn.
This is the place where you will be born.”

Jesus went down to the skirl of the sea:
“I am long reach, I am fierce comber,
I am keen saltspray, I am spring tide.”
He pushed the cup of the sea aside

And heard the sky which breathed and blew:
“I am the firmament, I am shape-changer,
I cradle and carry and kiss and roar,
I am infinite roof and floor.”

All day He walked, He walked all night,
Then Jesus came to the heart at dawn.
“Here and now,” said the heart-in-waiting,
“This is the place where you must be born.”