all of it so very precious

the word is near you
in your mouth
and in your heart
     Deuteronomy 30:14

...with us
     Isaiah 7:14

Emmanuel

He has come to us
not because we have been extra good
this Advent
'nice and not naughty'
not because we have studied hard
and said the right prayers
and so have been rewarded with His coming

He comes humbly to us

as a loveable
irresistible
little bitty baby

an ordinary
extraordinary little baby
born to us
this day
this week
last week
last year

He is with us

with us
in words
caught from around the table
while doing dishes

"sorry I'm late
there was a homeless women we had to find a place for"

in their banter
"so are you pregnant yet?"
"I'm drinking wine!?!?"

in the welcome presence of friends and family
yesterday and today

"it's only taken me 26 years to be able to do that"

ahhh ahhhh ahhhh ahhh ahh ahhh

in doing something that hasn't been done in thirty years
in love for her
"it's dr. zhivago"

in doing something else she loves....because it's her birthday
too

in our simplest of gratitude
for the most complex of technologies

for keeping family safe and whole and happy
even when far away
in finishing the bechamel sauce

even before presents are opened

in little ones
who are not our own
and yet our own


in a 'hug' given

in time shared

in comfy serviceable silly gifts
that include a matching hat

in re-gifting the most precious of possessions
packed away in attics until just the right moment to be shared
"don't forget to tell her
what a sacrifice it was back then
$15.00
a week's worth of groceries"


and the aunt mick award for jams all day goes to...
the bimmer
in these boots that will soon be walking
once again on foreign land
"does this mean you are gonna be a priest?"
"not yet..."

in the things we do
every year
upon year
new every year





"I'll dump you..."
"I'm used to it"






He is here
with us
loving us
through each other

He came like us
received gifts at his birth
like us

lived and died
like us

and is with us
in the familiarity of all that we do
in the mundane
in the ordinary
making all of it
oh so precious
in very old lyrics
that somehow became childhood favorites
'the goose is getting fat'

in the new traditions

in the wholeness of family
even though separated by death, by distance...

like families before us
we are all one in love

God bless us
every one
     Tiny Tim
     Charles Dickens