No Room

 

My heart hammers in staccato beats

staring up at the figure on the cross.

I cannot believe this is the boy

I fell in love with as a child.

 

I remember like yesterday. . .

 

We passed by the stable and I peeked inside

instead of food for the animals to my surprise

there lay a baby in the manger surrounded by

a man and a woman and a strange light.

The sheep, goat and donkey all lay around

they didn’t seem to mind their trough taken

with a bundle of human sleeping so sound.

I wanted to get closer but my mother wouldn’t stay

and we walked off in a hurry the other way.

 

I saw glimpses of him for a couple of years

I watched as he learned to walk and talk

he was like no other child I’d ever known.

So many times I tried to get near him

circumstances kept me away and unengaged

thought maybe I’d get to play with him one day

until they left unexpected — was he afraid?

 

I’ve thought about him often, his little cherub face

he had such a special something I never seemed to place.

And here I stand so grief-stricken as I look up amazed

the little boy I admired, is being treated this heinous way.

I know it’s him — I’ve never forgotten the gentle babe

I can see it in his eyes as he looks down upon me with grace.

My heart feels so much compassion, so much love

I cannot bear this sight of him

hanging on a rugged cross by Jews and thieves condemned.

 

I was such a little girl when I spied such a tiny peaceful miracle

always wondering why he was born in a dirty, rugged stable

my pondering turns sudden and anew

why didn’t that innkeeper give him a room?

And could it be that’s all he wants from me and you?

A room within our hearts, a place into our lives

not just a stable behind the scenes

but a home in our hearts to dwell and abide.

 

~Marcie Bridges

©20 December 2015

 

And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths,

and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:7

 

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