Sunday: Advent

It was a time like this
war and tumult of war,
a horror in the air.
Hungry yawned the abyss--
and yet there came the star
and the child most wonderfully there.

It was a time like this
of fear and lust for power
license and greed a blight--
and yet the Prince of bliss
came in the darkest hour
in quiet and silent light.

And in a time like this
how celebrate his birth
when all things fall apart?
Ah! wonderful it is
with no room on the earth
the stable is our heart.

Madeleine L'Engle, "A Time Like This"