Poem for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

BC:AD

This was the moment when Before
Turned into After, and the future’s
Uninvented timekeepers presented arms.

This was the moment when nothing
Happened. Only dull peace
Sprawled boringly over the earth.

This was the moment when even energetic Romans
Could find nothing better to do
Than counting heads in remote provinces.

And this was the moment
When a few farm workers and three
Members of an obscure Persian sect

Walked haphazard by starlight straight
Into the kingdom of heaven.

U.A. Fanthorpe (1929 – 2009)

We are on the cusp of the moment when heaven and earth meet! It’s a world
changing moment. Ordinary things and terrible things are happening all the time but
let’s join the farm workers and the members of an obscure Persian sect and
worship the baby in the stable, the king who opens up his kingdom to us here on
earth.

-Tina Lamb