a lovely poem for Advent
The Overshadow
by Luci Shaw
“…. the power of the Most High will overshadow you… “ -Gospel of Luke
Whe we think of God, and
angels, and the Angel,
we suppose ineffable light.
So there is surprise in the air
when we see him bring to Mary,
in her lit room, a gift of darkness.
What is happening under that
huge wing of shade? In that mystery
what in-breaking wildness fills her?
She is astonished and afraid; even in
that secret twilight she bends her head,
hiding her face behind the curtain
Of her hair; she knows that
the rest of her life will mirror
this blaze, this sudden midnight.
8 Responses to “a lovely poem for Advent”
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Maggi has kept a blog since September 2003, writing about theology and faith, the arts and literature, and a little about life and random nonsense...
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… isn’t that rather a poem for the Annunciation? (though I agree that it is lovely)
Of course, you are absolutely correct. But I’ve noticed that in recent years, the cultural shift is to place the annunciation within the sweep of the pre-Christmas stories, or the narrative of the nativity, hence it is mentioned more and more in Advent liturgies.
If I was being pedantic, I would insist that Annunciation be saved for its “proper” place in March. But I don’t think being pedantic ever works when the culture is shifting (indeed, could anyone have stopped Advent being shortened from 6-ish weeks to 4 by insisting on correctness?) So I decided some time ago to go with the flow.
What do you think? Is it worth trying to keep feasts in their “proper” place? Or will popular opinion prevail in any case?
Well, being Orthodox I’m all for keeping feasts in their proper place– God knows I’ve ranted about Easter crawling into January, and Christmas into October, and feasts being effectively over before they arrive. Orthodoxy is like that: we insist on correctness, not because it’s correct as such, but because it’s proper. I do acknowledge that other traditions have different emphasis, though! And I sing the protestant Magnificat setting (last item on this pagewith great glee in the ecumenical Advent services we host, because it’s splendid and, yes, appropriate.
Gah, I botched the link, here it is: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificat#Latijn_.28Vulgata.29 (this is a better link, actually) It’s to a beautiful seventeenth-century melody which is even harder to find online (but I found a reasonable version on YouTube)
I think a bit of going with the flow because we’re attending to culture (up to a point) is a good idea. During Advent the two things which continually muddle me are readings about John the Baptist on Advent 2, then he appears properly during Advent 3, and the pink candle in the Advent wreath (week 3) , which can’t be for Mary since she is week 4!!
I agree with you on that! have also written about it – in fact the first chapter of my Advent book has a slightly ranty story in it about Christmas coming too early…
Since the date of the annunciation is also based on quite a lot of “culture” (The date kept for the day Jesus was born is Dec 25; therefore Mary conceived on March 25, because everyone knows that babies take exactly 9 months to gestate; and of course seh conceived at the exact moment that the angel spoke to here…and all of this is “culture” ) I’m not too worried about telling and reading the story of the annunciation in Advent. A good story is worth telling more than once, and with different emphases, and the themes of waiting with expectation, of hoping for salvation, of recognising what God is doing are all good Advent thoughts.
I love this poem! I am just putting together an angel-themed carol service. Any suggestions for angels in non-biblical poetry/prose, beyond the annunciation story?