Christmas Eve

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,” Titus 2:11

on that night, as the world
held its breath between
what had been and what might be,
God arrived not with all the answers
but arms tiny enough to hold us all.
no pronouncements thundered
from the star-filled sky,
just songs of love swaddled
in tender vulnerability,
the sound of a heartbeat
learning time’s new language.
tonight, as the world
holds its breath between
the shouts of anger and fear
and the almost-too-soft prayers
of children longing for hope,
come into the rooms of grace
immigrants offered by strangers,
come into those neighborhoods
waiting to greet redemption that
is offered in weakness, not unbridled power.
come to where our trust
is as fragile is spun sugar,
where our grace is as tenacious
as a parent determined to make it
to the pageant in which
their child plays the first lobster.
come,
close enough
so we can cradle you,
silent enough
to be heard over those
who tell us it is foolish to hope,
your light
shining in every night
the world holds its breath.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman