This thin slice of agate sits in front of a window in my home.  As the light changes and shifts during the day, the suspended crystals glimmer, one spot bright now, then another. There is womblike, mystery here, an exquisite dance of light, reminding me of angel visitations and Light received.

Christmas Dream 

“…an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.”  Matthew 1:20

“Amiably at home with virtue and evil –

the righteousness of Joseph and Herod’s

wickedness – I’m ever and always a stranger to grace.

I need this annual angel visitation.

-this sudden dive by dream into reality-

to know the virgin conceives and God is with us.

The dream powers its way through winter weather

and gives me vision to see the Jesus gift.

Light from the dream lasts a year. Through

equinox and solstice I am given twelve months

of daylight by which to build the crèche where my

Redeemer lives. The fetus of praise grows

‘deep in my spirit. As autumn wanes I count

the days until I bear the dream again.”

Eugene Peterson