Hope was Born

In a noisy cave
in the heat of the night
amid worry and grime,
crowds and farm animals,
Hope was born into the world.

After accusations of unfaithfulness,
Following the threat of death by stoning,
At the end of a long journey
forced by a foreign government
Hope was born into the world.

To parents who did not expect
that their lives would be turned upside down.
To a world that ached with readiness
but was completely unprepared,
Hope was born into the world.

Shepherds, shunned by the world,
an unchosen people,
were illuminated by heaven’s light
as angels announced that
Hope was born into the world.

Creation opened its weary arms,
The earth groaned in relief,
and a few recognized the joy that
Hope was born into the world.

Into the sweltering night,
under the light of a star,
God worked to do
what couldn’t have been imagined.
Hope was born in to the world.

And our world has never been the same.