![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2020\/09\/Encounters-with-Jesus.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nTHE BONDING<\/h1>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
A cold and listless season,<\/p>\n
And full of cheerless cheer,<\/p>\n
When hopes are raised and dashed again<\/p>\n
And joy dissolves in tears.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The search for endless family<\/p>\n
The search for one true Friend<\/p>\n
Leaves questers tired, disconsolate<\/p>\n
With questions without end.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Best find some potent pleasure quick<\/p>\n
Some superficial thrill<\/p>\n
Than search for everlasting love<\/p>\n
When none can fill that bill.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
So hide yourselves in shopping<\/p>\n
And eating \u2018til you burst,<\/p>\n
Use endless entertainment<\/p>\n
As shelter from the worst.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
And hope at least for truce on earth,<\/p>\n
Though warlords rattle swords<\/p>\n
As if to kill could solve our ills<\/p>\n
We seize our \u2018just\u2019 rewards.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mistake some rest for lasting peace<\/p>\n
And calm for \u2018all is well\u2019<\/p>\n
And absence of activity<\/p>\n
As year end\u2019s victory bell.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But what if Advent is no quest<\/p>\n
Despite the wise men\u2019s star<\/p>\n
What if Advent isn\u2019t reached<\/p>\n
By driving from afar?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
What if Good News comes to us<\/p>\n
From well beyond our reach?<\/p>\n
What if love and peace on earth<\/p>\n
Are more than things we preach?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
What if a restless peace<\/p>\n
Is what He did intend<\/p>\n
Until we open up our lives<\/p>\n
And let the stranger in?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
What if a peaceless rest<\/p>\n
Is not the Christmas hope<\/p>\n
What if nothing we could do<\/p>\n
Helps us truly cope?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
What if there is a bonding<\/p>\n
With one who rules above<\/p>\n
Who came to us in beggar\u2019s rags<\/p>\n
And brought the gift of love?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The God shaped hole in every heart<\/p>\n
Is healed by just one source<\/p>\n
When Jesus comes to claim his own<\/p>\n
Who are without recourse.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
So give up endless seeking<\/p>\n
Surrender is required<\/p>\n
The one who is the Lord of all<\/p>\n
Cannot be bought or hired,<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s not conjured into life<\/p>\n
By pomp and circumstance<\/p>\n
By Yuletide carols boldly sung<\/p>\n
By fun or drunken trance.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
He comes unbidden, unawares<\/p>\n
Fills crevices of souls<\/p>\n
He comes on his own timely terms<\/p>\n
And makes the sinner whole.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018We shall be restless\u2019 said the saint<\/p>\n
\u2018Until we rest in thee\u2019<\/p>\n
And find that we have been reborn,<\/p>\n
Our own nativity.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
How silently, how silently<\/p>\n
The precious truth is given<\/p>\n
And God imparts to human hearts<\/p>\n
The blessings of his heaven.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE BONDING \u00a0 \u00a0 A cold and listless season, And full of cheerless cheer, When hopes are raised and dashed again And joy dissolves in tears. \u00a0 The search for endless family The search for one true Friend Leaves questers tired, disconsolate With questions without end. \u00a0 Best find some potent pleasure quick Some superficial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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