Let the Stable Still Astonish3
Monday, 14 December 2009 19:42

Dear Friends,


The holy season is upon us.  In the spirit of giving, and in thanks to you all, I want to share with you a poem I wrote a number of years ago, that has been used in surprising ways since it's first publication  (including Jan Karon's use of it in her Mitford series).  It could have been said better, I know, but the truth of this birth---in both places---has once again scoured and devastated me. Exactly what I needed. I hope the same for you.

 

 


Let the Stable Still Astonish

 

 

Let the stable still astonish.

Straw–dirt floor, dull eyes,
Dusty flanks of donkeys, oxen;
Crumbling, crooked walls;
No bed to carry that pain,
And then, the child,
Rag-wrapped, laid to cry
In a trough.

Who would have chosen this?
Who would have said: “Yes,
Let the God of all the heavens and earth
Be born here, in this place?
Who but the same God
Who stands in the darker, fouler rooms
Of our hearts
And says, “Yes,
Let the God of Heaven and Earth
Be born here –
In this place.
----Leslie Leyland Fields

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments  

 
0 #6 Sue Leonard 2011-12-20 20:29
Pleased to find your website, and also to see some of the books you ahve authored. Beautiful poem from "Light from Heaven." I, too, am a real fan of Jan Karon's books. Love the character, the humor and the messages of faith.
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0 #5 2011-09-30 00:57
Leslie! This is my favorite Christmas poem of all time. What a gift you have for sharing words and thoughts. Hope you are well......
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0 #4 2011-08-09 16:52
Thank you! I am going to stitch it and put in a Christmas wall hanging. So powerful.
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0 #3 2011-07-23 15:17
I, too, read this poem in "Light from Heaven." I came to the internet to search the name of the author as I copy the poem into my personal book of quotes. Very happy to see your web site. I work in a small Christian Bookstore on Guam and will now try to find two of your books to put on the shelves there.... Surprise Child and Parenting is Your Highest Calling. God's very best to you, Leslie. Barb
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0 #2 2010-12-13 17:28
I'm so pleased you posted this poem online. It expresses the truth of Christmas in so profound yet understandable a way. I too found it in Jan Karon's book and have resisted the urge to post it on my blog because it is under copyright. Now I can send folks here.
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0 #1 2010-12-06 08:55
I absolutely loved this poem in Jan Karon's book 'Light from Heaven'. I wept as I read and re-read it. So many struggles here in this life and so many feelings about the inadequacy of being able to DO things the way God wants them done; yet HE stands and looks into these places, which are the war-torn places of our hearts and asks admittance, asks to be BORN into our lives even in those dark places so He can change them to the kinds of places He can inhabit freely after the change He alone can bring. He is not frightened by looking at those rooms, He knows He can take on the work and get it accomplished... all the while loving us w/ the amazing love He has for us through Jesus, who is the Christ. The theme in my life this Christmas season has been the story of God reconciling us to Himself through Jesus Christ and, for some reason, I am again amazed and weeping over that process which accepts me in the beloved in spite of my 'darker, fouler rooms' while He cleans up those places.
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