There’s a dragon in my nativity

 There’s a dragon in my nativity,

Dreadful and immense, The shepherds quake, the wise men shake And spill their frankincense. The cattle are a-lowing and The baby is awake, While Joe and Mary tremble, “Oh! This must be some mistake!’ There’s a dragon over Bethlehem, I don’t know how he came. I didn’t think a donkey Could have borne the dragon’s frame. I don’t believe the census, Had been called for such as him. And I’m certain that when Dragon knocked, No room was at the Inn. There’s a dragon by the stable, I don’t know why he’s there. He hasn’t brought a present And he only seems to glare. He hovers over David’s town, That still beneath him lies. Yet no-one’s sleep is dreamless, Underneath his piercing eyes. This dragon isn’t visible With ordinary sight. You cannot snap a selfie, Or televise his flight. Unseen, he stands for every power that stands against the earth, The death, disease and darkness Overshadowing each birth. This dragon is an enemy Of all that’s good and true. This monster lies and steals and kills — He’s coming after you. Above each crib the dragon hovers, Sure to swallow whole, Rulers, empires, beauty, joy — A flesh-and-blood black hole. But dragons always meet their match, They always meet their doom. A hero rises to the fight, To cast them into gloom. And so at this nativity, Arose another player. The baby wrapped in swaddling cloths — He was a dragon slayer. He’d come to fight through Herod’s plot, Through dangers big and small. He took on evil, sickness, death, And triumphed over all. A dragon or a baby — Just who would win the fight? It wasn’t really fair, you see, The Child was a Knight. From high above and long before, He knew what must be done. He knew the dragon waiting here, And still he chose to come. There’s a dragon in my nativity, A fierce and monstrous danger. But fiercer still the bravery And love within the manger.

I was led to this video and poem and post by the End Notes of something a friend texted me.
Here's this link: https://hebraicthought.org/apocalyptic-christmas-story-book-of-revelation/
"Rescuing Eagles and Baby-Eating Dragons: An Apocalyptic Christmas Story" By Amy Gabriel published on December 15, 2020.
It included hyperlinks, the first of which is actual part 2 of a two part podcast and it had a link to part 1.
So... here you go, if you're interested, part 1




At the bottom of the original article was: 

“There’s a dragon in my nativity,” writes Glen Scrivener, “Dreadful and immense.”22 But though the dragon may continue to rage, the nativity story reminds us that the infinite God has entered our finite world and has secured the final victory:

And so at this nativity, Arose another player.
The baby wrapped in swaddling cloths—
He was a dragon slayer.23

Here are those End notes

22. Glen Scrivener, “There’s a Dragon in My Nativity,” SpeakLife, YouTube video, “There IS a dragon at Christmas — John Lewis/Waitrose response,” November 21, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyC5RHKNBm4.

23. Scrivener, “There’s a Dragon in My Nativity.”




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Christmas 🎄 2021

 by Francesca Battistelli listen here

 thank you, Tam Higgins 
 thank you,  Bob and Kerry Law
"Forceful confrontation with the problem of death, and through death, the meaning of life. It's also a sharp satire of the "false" modern middle-class lifestyle (embodied in the character of Ivan Ilych)." Source
"God Bless us, every one!" ~ Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol
Humphrey Chronicles  thank you

“Joy is dangerous. It fills me with secrets... It is all prayer.” Julia Cameron's "Jerusalem is walking in this world." read full poem here

 by David Arms
"Labor of Love" by Andrew Peterson featuring Jill Phillips 
 listen here

Matthew 1:23
"Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness. Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused. "~ Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol"
O Holy Night by Josh Groban listen here
Puzzle gifts from three of my most favorite humans. One down, two to go..

Quiet days, evenings, night, early mornings...
Reading:
"Song For The King" by Michael W. Smith listen here
Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich, audio on YouTube 
"Unanimity, won-der-ful happiness!" ~ from A Christmas Carol (Stave 5).
Video (below) by Pamela Zagarenski is divine and a wonderful gift message from Ken xo
thank you , Brian Thornburg
eXquiste: "The WeXford Carol" by
Yo-Yo Ma, Alison Krauss, listen/watch here
Zagarenski  Sacredbee 
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December 8-21, 2021

"the Audacious this-really-happened miracle of God taking on human skin, Arriving down at our level...every detail so deeply human and raw, And He was willing to go through it... All for one reason, to be with us." The Chosen "The Messengers"
Christmas Hallelujah - Caleb and Kelsey
Dad is Definitely with us, always xoxo
Emmanuel : God with us : Our Savior
Foretold: Lifepointe message: "Faith in God's Promises produces peace in my life." click here  source
Heaven's Hope..."Hope, peace, and love are an outflow of walking with Jesus through the lonely valley of death." ~ Boyd Bailey
"In a time of unnecessary noise, listening is the artist's way forward. " front flap The Listening Path 
John 8:12YouVersion Bible app 12/14/21
Ken's inspiration includes his photos,  grandchildren,  yoga and LOVE ❤ 
"My availability for God determines how much I hear from God." Lifepointe 2/19/21
"Part of doing in something is listening. To the sun. To the stars. To the wind." ~ Madeleine L'Emgle
"Questions for Thought and Prayer" each and every day with Wisdom for Living: A 40 Day Devotional by Boyd Bailey
Reading:  and
Sufganiyot: fried balls of yeast dough filled with strawberry jelly and dusted heavily with powdered sugar. The word sufganiyot can be traced back to the Greek word sufan, meaning “spongy” or “fried” 
source
Unto you is born this day in the city of David, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:
Violet helped Grampi paint Santa :)
"When they saw the star, they rejoiced 
eXceedingly with great joy." Matthew 2:10
Yaldā sunrise 21 December 21 Yaldā Night in here: Wikipedia
 
"Zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” Mark 7:36-37
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Breathing Under Water by Richard Rohr

"An Economy of Grace" by Richard Rohr click here
"Breathing Under Water" poem by Sr. Carol Bieleck, RSCJ click here
"Compunction: the necessary sadness and humiliation that comes from seeing our own failures and weaknesses."  p.29 Breathing Under Water
Direct encounter with God's Love p. 38 Breathing Under Water
"Each of us is being prepared to be a healer." p. 65 Breathing Under Water by Richard Rohr
"Forgiveness is to let go of all hope for a different or better past" p.46
"God seduces us all into the economy of grace-- by loving us in spite of ourselves, in the very places where we cannot, will not, or dare not love ourselves" p.39
"Honestly, it takes major surgery and much of our life to get head, heart, and body to put down their defenses..." ~ Richard Rohr p. 10 Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps
Intimacy with God is our gift from and through Jesus
“Jars of purification” (John 2:6-10).
Know that they are eating from the very rich and nutritious 'marrow of the Gospel ' " p. xviii
"Luminosity of awareness and compassion for the world, which becomes our real moral victory. " p. 30
Law written on our hearts 
"May the God who gives us peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being—spirit, soul, and body—free from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you will do it, because he is faithful." 1 Thessalonians 5:23-4 p. 15
Names for the hidden Mystery: "Litany of the Holy Spirit" Appendix 3 of Rohr's The Naked Now
Ongoing shadowboxing is absolutely necessary ... Only the soul knows that we grow best in the shadowlands." p. 31
"Paradox is truth standing on its head to get our attention p. 50 Breathing Under Water
Questions in the Study Guide are especially helpful IF answered fully and honestly 
Scrupulosity: A form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) involving religious or moral obsessions. Scrupulous individuals are overly concerned that something they thought or did might be a sin or other violation of religious or moral doctrine. See also: 
2 Timothy 3:6 p. 29 Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps
Universal addiction: "stinking thinking" p. xxix
Vital Spiritual Experience p. xxvi and check out this Video on YouTube
With these twelve important breathing lessons, you now know for yourself that you can breathe, and even breathe under water, because the breath of God is everywhere." P. 112
“In my eXperience, if you are not radically grateful every day, resentment always takes over.” ~ Richard Rohr
"You see, alcohol in Latin is spiritus and you use the same word for the highest religious experience as well as the most depraving poison." -Carl Jung's letter to Bill Wilson in 1961, shortly before Jung's death 
Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” 
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Poets, Philosophers, and Theologians

All over the place
But now, sitting quietly, Misty near and snoring
Centering with "The Truelove: Poet and Philosopher
David Whyte on Reaching Beyond Our Limiting Beliefs About What We Deserve click here
"English voice, in his singular style of echoing lines to let them reverberate more richly: 'There is...
"Faith in loving Fiercely the one who is rightfully yours especially if you have waited years and especially if part of you never believed you could deserve this..."
"Generous Gift of a poem"
Hebrides is an archipelago comprising hundreds of islands off the northwest coast of Scotland... Home to rugged landscapes, fishing villages and remote Gaelic-speaking communities. The Isle of Skye..." source
"I remember an old man who walked every morning on the grey stones to the shore of baying seals, who would press his hat to his chest in the blustering salt wind and say his prayer to the turbulent...
Jesus hidden in the water... so that when we finally step out of the boat toward them, we find everything holds us, and everything confirms our courage... you’ve simply had enough of drowning and you want to live and you want to love." from “The Truelove” by David Whyte
"Know me, accept me, hear what I have to tell you." ~ p. 72 The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman
"LOVE is what matters most" The Book of Magic, and of course, Jesus
The Marginalian has a free Sunday digest of the week's most mind-broadening and heart-lifting reflections spanning art, science, poetry, philosophy, and other tendrils of our search for truth, beauty, meaning, and creative vitality. check it out by clicking here
"No one is entitled to anything other than his freedom and the choices he makes." ~ p. 166 The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman
"Or grace would not be grace at all." Romans 11:6
“PEACE that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6
Quote by Ian McGilchrist "If we want others to understand the beauty of a landscape with which they may be unfamiliar... we must take them there and explore it with them, walking on the hills and mountains, pausing as new vantage points continually open around us, allowing our companions to experience it for themselves." The Matter With Things
Remedy by John Roedel
The Sea In You: Twenty Poems of Requited and Unrequited Love : 
“The TRUELOVE” by David Whyte
"Unable are the LOVED to die, for love is immortality" p. 368 The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman
Vials" I think of the following forty poems as little amber vials... I hope that these...
Words help you on your journey back to yourself... find the same healing in these poems..." ~ John Roedel's  Remedy Introduction
"Yes, a key can lie for ever in the place where the locksmith left it, and never be used to open the lock the master forged it for." ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein qtd by Ian McGilchrist here
Zechariah 9:9 ESV "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
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