Living Psalm 98 – Christmas Day A

Living Psalms Book

Psalms in the form of words and art, reborn in the specific contexts of our world, privileging the voices of historically marginalized communities and those acting in solidarity with them.

It’s a lot to ask of a baby, isn’t it –
even one who has been foretold, even one
whose parents took the word of angels –
to be the savior we’ve longed for
all these lonely years.

Shivering, we wait around the manger
beside the woman who risked it all,
who heard God’s word and was glad of it,
only to end up in a drafty barn,
resting with animals and shepherds and
the expectations of countless generations
swaddled and silent in her arms.

Beside her stands the man who believed
a dream is real enough to stake
a life on, a future, his reputation –
all on the ask of an angel
who came while he slept.
He put it all into God’s hands,
himself, this baby, and the woman
he pledged to marry.

We are less welcome than the shepherds,
less than the little drummer boy
(and he was very unwelcome that first night),
not because God’s grace is withheld from us,
but because we don’t take what is offered.
We turn from the stable as empty handed
as the Magi, desperate for another road home.

There is no other way though, no way to go but through,
where the fear lives, and where we must challenge
those who want to strike down all that is good
before it has even begun.

There is only this:
faith in those frightening dreams
of angels; hope in the desperate
faces we turn from on the street
and in the mirror; joy in the strident
necessary cries of babies; and love
in the face of all that seems wrong.

It’s a lot to ask of ourselves, isn’t it,
to be as brave as the stories we tell?
But after all, every character was once
born, like you, and like me, with no idea
what might happen next.

Living-Psalm-98_Mankin Download

Living Psalm for Christmas Day A – Psalm 98 was written by Maria Mankin.

Living Psalms Book is created by UCC Witness & Worship Artists’ Group, a Network of UCC connected artists, activists and ministers bridging the worship and liturgy of the local church with witness and action in the community. Maren Tirabassi, editor

Logo is detail from Living Psalm 80 by Sophia Beardemphl, Redwoods, CA. Recovering from significant bullying, Sophia, age nine, read Psalm 80 and thought of brokenness that needs mending. She drew this broken and mended bowl.