Out of the Silence
Vicky Allen brings us this beautiful poem for our final post in the Advent series ‘Into the Silence.’
On this Christmas Day may your heart swell with the same hope of those shepherds long ago whose silence was broken by “tidings of great joy.” And in your own places where silence seems now to pervade, may you know the reality of Emmanuel, God with us – the presence in the silence.
Merry Christmas from all of us at 24-7 Prayer Scotland!
Night did not quite hide
the wonder
as constellations scattered pin-prick lights
and human hearts gathered stories, songs
from their gleaming trails
far-off wise ones
gazing at far-off stars
plucked the strings
of history and hope
Night did not quite hide
the ordinary
cold damp air of a quiet hillside
sheep huddled ghost-like
in starlit gloom
Shepherd-guardians trading tales
low-voiced around sputtering fire
then rubbing tired, disbelieving eyes
as light, song displaced dark, stillness
Night could not quite hide
the transformation
a child, a family
an old, old story made new
for a fracturing world
the quiet of the night
cracking with cries
the stomach-drop of love
breaking fear into fragments
Night could not quite hide
the wonder, the ordinary, the transformation
the mundane birth-miracle
wrapped up in story
and promise
an unwrapping of hope before our eyes
and eternity turns upon
a child, a hillside, a star, a song
night is where silent surprises wait
and laughter comes like stars
singing Glory
Vicky Allen is a communications consultant for a small Scottish children’s charity, with a parallel passion for creativity in general and writing poetry in particular. She’s part of Discovery Church Dunbar, a young church plant which loves to meet in the wide open spaces of East Lothian’s coast and countryside as much as possible.