Another great piece by Darek Latta. I highly recommend his post, “God Is in the Manger,” on Imagination + Intent, which reflects on Bonhoeffer’s “God Is in the Manger.”
Indicators by Matthew White
After Isaiah 7:10–16
Festooned by fickle, feckless ways
When, asked to ask,
We abstain.
For we are tired and weak of faith—
Wearisome to
God of grace.
Yet he himself will court our gaze;
Signposting to
Foretold babe.
A virgin will conceive and raise
A flaring gift
Who’ll warm and stay.
Immanuel shall be his name
And he shall eat
His curds and weigh
The hopes and fears of all the days
And those who bless
And who betray.
For in the years this infant plays
All we dread is
Laid to waste.
---
Look Again by Drew D. West
After Matthew 1:18-25
Take a second look
at your life—
at how you presume things to be
and those heavy fears.
Flowering before you is a new adventure.
Norms are silenced—
Spirit creates.
God, wake me up
from the dream of my own making.
I want to dive beneath
the waves of grace
and have Your presence
crash around me.
It is a gift to feature one of Matthew White’s unpublished poems this week! Matthew is an Anglican priest, poet, and songwriter based in West Sussex in the United Kingdom. His work has been published in The Way Back 2 Ourselves and Paddler Press. Matthew’s debut poetry collection, “Propelled Into Wonder,” which spans themes of beauty, faith, leadership, and loss, was published in September 2024 to wide acclaim. Matthew is married to Sarah, and they have 3 children. You can connect with Matthew by visiting his website: https://www.matthewwhite.online and by joining the mailing list. You can also receive new and original weekly poems direct to your inbox each week by subscribing (free and paid options) to Matthew’s “Idle and Blessed Poetry” newsletter on Substack:
For in the years this infant plays
All we dread is
Laid to waste."
If that's not what Christmas is for, then nothing is.