Creative Advent: Peaceful Gaze

Before the magnificat,the singing of praisethe hallelujah of incarnation,Mary & Elizabeth sip teain the quiet afternoon,affable words wovenwith the warm presence of golden lanternbetween the trial of their lives.As their weight grows,they speak from their heartnot of the past, ratherof the miracle coming. After the embrace,the greeting –the leaping in the womb,Mary and Elizabeth,young maiden and elder cronerest into ease as sacred friends,a silent understanding heldas their gaze falls onto the glow of creation,the holy blaze between them.As they watch and wait,they wear their sitting shawl, a blanket of possibility for all. In the gray space ofbefore and after, the…

When Spirit Meets Spirit

This week for Advent, I dwell with Elizabeth and what happens when Spirit meets Spirit. At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of…