The Desert

 

 I still don't fear the desert, Though at times it's vast and dark.

Sometimes it just feels endless, With no ending and no start.

But deserts are not completely black, The stars show us the way.

They guide us on our journey, From darkness into day.

I still don't fear the desert, For it saw my Savior's birth.

When angels light and song broke through, They filled the desert first.

The doors in town were shuttered, "No room" the people said.

It begged an urgent question, "Where will He lay His head?"

Two millennia have passed,  And not very much has changed.

The desert still seems vast and dark, The people shut away.

I still don't fear the desert, For from it hope has dawned.

"The light shines in the darkness", And helps us journey on.

It's still so far from over, The end still out of sight.

But in this time of dark and fear, We are asked to be the light.

Christ's coming shattered darkness, Two thousand years ago.

When all seemed lost, and cold, and dark, There came a ray of hope.

This Christmas will look different, But somehow more the same.

To the one that happened long ago, When the angels sang His Name.

Emmanuel is with us, The light shines in the dark.

This quiet hope has surely dawned, It dwells within our hearts.

Poem by: Sister Michelle Elizabeth Marie, O.Carm.

December 7, 2020