Into the darkness
Has come a great light
A Savior—a Prince
Born into the night
Don’t look in a palace
Of royal design
Look in the manger
To see the divine.
Draw near to God
He will draw near to you
Seek Him and find Him
Who makes all things new.
But where do I look
Where do I search
In myself or in others
In a place called a church?
God came as a baby
Woke a world fast asleep
While angels sung of His coming
Among shepherds and sheep.
Do I look for God
Or does He find me and see
I could never touch Heaven
But Heaven touched me.
Whose darkness is it
He came to ignite?
Mine or yours
Or humanity’s blight?
Sometimes his light
Feels like one small candle
Lit just for me
To personally handle
Passed so gently
From Him to me
Lighting one step at a time
To a path I can’t see.
And sometimes it’s something
Pressed into my shame
And it hurts to be burned
Though worse to remain.
And other times
His light feels untame
Fiercely fighting
Like a sword wrought with flame
Where do I look
When the darkness is deep
And I can’t sense Him at all
Or His memory keep?
I didn’t break into His world
He broke into mine
So I read the stories
Old songs and old rhymes
They trace the veins
That lie under my skin
Bring back to life
What was sickly and dim
And I look to the Quiet
I look to the small
I look in the places
Where there’s no strength at all
Sometimes those places
Are in my own heart
And it’s frightening to walk
Through the powerless parts.
And sometimes those places
Are right by the tide
And walking into them
I feel swept aside.
But Christmas is here
When God donned what was weak
And if I want to meet God
Let me not fear where to seek.
