Our friend, Craig Joseph, wrote this poem last Christmas partially in response to a bunch of friends [us included] struggling with infertility. This Christmas, I stumbled upon Zechariah & Elizabeth's story again [Luke 1]. It's a different perspective of Christmas, but for myself and our friends who struggle with Christmas spirit this year, may Zechariah's story nourish you...
"Zechariah"
My silence speaks volumes:
Speaks of hollow reverberations in an empty womb,
Of my beloved’s muffled cries, hopeless, late at night,
Of unbroached topics between man and wife,
Isolated in their grief.
Speaks of a mute God
Who would not stoop to answer
The cacophony of impotent noise made by the righteous,
Striving to keep his commandments.
All this – echoes of despair, lost faith, abandonment.
My silence is God’s silence.
The lack of sound then resounds:
With the rustle of angels’ wings,
The gentle roar of a majestic announcement,
The metallic ring of a sword drawn in anger
Upon a fearful gasp
(An inrush of air
That cloaked a more resounding unbelief:
Faith as barren as a womb).
My silence is God’s answer, disbelieved.
But now I, mute and wildly motioning,
Fill the air with your laughter and endless queries,
Hearing what you cannot be aware of –
That to which divinely-imposed silence has bent my ear:
A distant cry from the beginning of time – from Creation –
Declaring that God will make the hearts of his people fertile again.
Yelled through the prophets (though most were deaf to this meaning),
Hollering through my son (hear that, and do not scoff,
Lest you be considered, Like I,
the town clown),
To announce itself shortly in a Bethlehem stable,
Calling to God’s people in stereo-surround sound.
My silence, alas, is God’s provision
That will not be silent for long.
Copyright 2008 Craig Joseph
