The 60-Second Sabbath

christmas

  • Gifts

    I might bemoanthe babe-obscuring frenzyof the mall at Christmastime:     The perfect gift!    The ultimate gift!    The gift they really want! Gift craving,    gift hawking,gift buying,    gift wrapping,gift giving,    gift returning… I feel gift pressure;I suffer from gift… Continue reading

  • Christmas Cozy

    I told himthat each year at ChristmasI like to read Christmas stories and Christmas poems. He said,"No one does Christmas cozy like Dirk!" And I thought of the story by Dickens I'd just read,about poverty and injustice in 19th-century London.I… Continue reading

  • Haiku for the Christmas Tree

    Washed in colored lightand tears and memory, I'mundone by wonder. Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Advent Lantern

    I hold my lantern overhead,and turning, look back at the past–such darkness blocks remembrance,only pinpricks of light in a field of black. I turn to look ahead.The light of my lanterncannot penetrate the fog of future's uncertainty.I hear muffled voices;unformed… Continue reading

  • Looking Back on the Day of Epiphany

    So the tree is down and gone for another year.The living room expands, which is a plus,and the furniture breathes deeperand eases back into its familiar placement.  But gone, as well, are the colored lights,the sparkle of ornaments,the friendly jostling… Continue reading

  • Incarnation

    We,the children of incarnation,hereby declarethat we are not one,but many.We are composite;we are alloy. Pure? No, never.Emphatically. We are the cross-bred childrenof the cross-bred children,of the original parents–the melding of divinity and humanity,as was intended,as was anticipated. We,arethe childrenof messy,… Continue reading

  • Gloria in Excelsis Deo!

    Let your Christmas gloriasresound long and loudlyinto this new year. Why save them for December?     Gloria in excelsis Deo! Are you afraid you may run out?     Gloria in excelsis Deo!    Such is not the nature of… Continue reading

  • Christmas, Day 12

    And so the festive season ends. We bid farewell to these our friends:the carols, lights and Christmas greens,the pause recalling what it means    to live with gratitude and hope,the attitudes that help us cope    with one more year… Continue reading

  • Christmas, Day 11 (The Demented Cyclists)

    Get out of the way,and the way becomes clear. We are our own roadblocks. Your anger approaches—get out of its wayand let it pass! Your anxiety encroaches—get out of its wayand let it pass! Your unkindess reproaches—get out of its… Continue reading

  • Christmas, Day 10

    I am a string of Christmas lightswith many burned-out bulbs. It must be someone's jobto keep me merry and bright. Someone?Anyone? Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.   Continue reading