Sourton, Lydford, Christmas Day 2011
It's not everyone's gift to have a child of their own (not mine, for instance, though I've inherited fiver grown-up stepchildren...). But all of us - through brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, godchildren etc - have had babies around us in our lives. So we are all well qualified for a brief conversation about:
(a) the good things about babies; and (b) the let's say, challenging things about babies.....
God sent his son Jesus into the world as a baby - to be all these things to us, and more. So when we look at any child, today, we can learn something of Jesus from them... and because we can see the beginnings of the adult's character in the very young child, so too we may see in today's babies not just the infant Jesus, but the grown-up Jesus too.
A poem-prayer which could be about a twenty-first century baby; or it couldbe about the baby Jesus. Or it could be about both simultaneously.... which I offer to help our reflection on the nature of the child Jesus and his effects on us today.....
BE MY BABY
(originally written for a Greenbelt Christmas special event at The Greenhouse, London, 1992)
Be my baby
Be my little bundle of fleshy joy
Be innocent
Be a gurgling, smiling distraction
For me
Be my baby
Be simply playful
Be soft to touch
And totally trusting
Of me
Be my baby
Let me hear your pretty giggles
Let me hold your tiny hands
Let your clear untainted eyes gaze
At me
Be my baby
Take my attention
Be the keeper of my hours
Make uncompromised demands
Of me
Be my baby
Be the giver of surprises
Be the source of troubled nights
Create moments of embarrassment
For me
Be my baby
Bind me to yourself
By your dizzying devotion
Trust the well-being of your body
To me
Be my baby
Make me feed you
Be my baby
Make me hold you
Make a sold-out suffering servant
Of me
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