The fifth day of Christmas.
Already decorations are being retired,
families dispersing, holiday travelers returning;
the usual resumes.
But the holiday is not half over;
these candled days spill over into the world.
“The shepherds returned to their fields,
making known what had been told them.”
Take back to your fields
the shepherds’ wonder,
the magi’s perseverance,
Anna and Simeon’s attentiveness,
Joseph’s willingness,
Mary’s yes,
the child’s presence.
As the starlit night closes its eye behind us
the Beloved still comes into the world.
Welcome each moment
prepared to meet God in it.
Bear this wonder into this day,
and the next.