What Is More Wonderful
I encountered the poem Flocking by Rachel Srubas in the October 1996 issue of Theology Today. It grabbed my attention and immediately began singing to me. I contacted the author and asked her permission to set it to music, which she graciously granted. Then, other things got in the way, and for twelve years, the piece remained in my mind, until, in 2009, I decided write it down. Again I contacted Rev. Srubas and asked her permission to use her words as lyrics, and again she granted it.
Rachel Srubas is the pastor at Mountain Shadows Presbyterian Church, in Tucson, Arizona.The poem speaks the internal narratives of the shepherds and the magi, as they visit the natal stable. In the final stanza, they, and we, come to realize that Jesus' birth is just the beginning. As beautiful and joyous as Christmas is, we cannot remain in Bethlehem.Flocking
By Rachel SrubasThe black sky brightens;
the night goes
unspeakably sweet. We retreat
in prayerful terror, to find
ourselves again, ordinary as we were,
but searching
uncountable stars.Mercy, the new purpose
of the night's labor, is shifting
traditions that have long led us.
We sense the wise innocence of the beasts
whose greasy coats and meat have always
warmed and fed us. Without us,
they'll wander as we do now,
from livelihood, for love.Starlit, scattered sheaves crackle
under our shoes, the dry flesh
of grain breaking like the ancient
laws in our brains,
as we abandon our fields
and take an amber path
to the citywhere one surpassing shudder
has sent forth an impossible child.
We walk in the aftershock, our satchels
laden with the fragrant lards
we were saving for our old age.
Here, the commonplace shimmers.
The image of a mother's blue shawl
now draws us near, now compels us
to slip away quickly:if we linger in the presence
of such everyday beauty,
we'll believe the world is just this
lovely and enduring, and not turning
toward what is more wonderful
than itself.
