1st Wednesday in Advent

1st week in Advent -- Wednesday                          Isaiah 7:14

                                      Incarnation

Every lover of dinosaurs knows:

Herbivores eat plants,

Carnivores eat herbivores,

and other things with meat.

Carnivores love the carnal,

that which is flesh and bones.

Thus Jesus is God who has become

intimate with the carnal --

become flesh and blood,

just like us --

The Creator has become the creature.

Why?

So that we know,

for a certainty,

that God Almighty now knows

the real struggles we know,

living in this less-than-perfect world.

More than that,

we now know,

for a certainty,

that God will never leave us alone.

For God has become one with us,

Immanuel.

Lord:

Thank you for coming to us, for coming to be one with us.  Thank you for standing beside us, this day and all the days of our lives.  Remind us of your loving presence with us; in the name of Jesus -- Immanuel -- we pray.  Amen.