For the Love of Us . . .

A seed was planted
in the womb of
a young girl.

"BE NOT AFRAID, BE NOT AFRAID,"  she was told.

So she went about the business of being human
with the heart of God forming inside her.
The most powerful force in the world
resting between her bones
and even though, even though
she loved God already,
she began to love Him even more.

Be not afraid. be not afraid, she reminded herself,

so she could go about the business of being human
with the soul of all souls taking shape,
the all seeing eyes, the palms later pierced
for her, for us.
She pressed her own palms into flour and oil,
to nourish her body,
the Bread of Life leavening in her belly.

Do not be afraid, do not be afraid, she mumbled in her sleep.

I am surprised she did not glow.
That the pupils of her eyes weren't celestial pools
reflecting the universe
That her heart did not explode from the
cosmic LOVE flowing through her veins
until that Baby was born.

She who had carried Him so long, finally held the
Savior of the World in her human hands
loved Him with her human heart.

"Be not afraid, be not afraid," she whispered in her baby's ear.

And He wasn't.