This poem, written by Phil Clarke, opened our Carol Service this year. We thought it would be good to share it with you all this Christmas.
Love is the Way
Before the day began that days began,
When stars were but a twinkle in God’s eye,
Before the eldest angel ever sang,
Love was the way and Love was the why.
The Father’s overflowing heart of love;
The Son’s delight in His beloved sire;
The Spirit that, between them, like a dove,
Bore love from heart to heart on wings of fire.
And Love rejoiced and, from the Father’s mouth,
His Son, His precious Word of Wisdom, came
And, carried on the Spirit’s mighty breath,
Love spoke a space for Love to make a name.
And worlds exploded into life, and life
Obeyed Love’s call to multiply and thrive.
And in that life, God made a Man and Wife:
The image of His love on Earth arrived.
So human love, the fount of family,
Was founded in the very heart of God;
Each living for the other, Trinity
Was mirrored there where Eden’s lovers stood.
But, from the start, Love knew love had a cost:
Its freedom would allow it to be spurned.
The mirror cracked – the way to life was lost –
A flaming blade forbade us to return.
But Love is Love, and Love would find a way.
The Word of God had christened all things Good
And would not rest until He saw the day
His creatures were brought back to Him for good.
The Word of Love rang out across the years
Through fathers, angels, prophets, priests and kings;
His promise carried hope and conquered fears:
The Day would come when Love would heal all things.
Some waited for a warrior on a horse
To rid the Earth of Empire once for all;
Some hoped a perfect priest would show the course
That every knee might bow to holy law.
But Love had always had much more in mind
Than any human heart had yet conceived;
The destiny He saw for all mankind
Surpassed by far what any might believe.
The Word whose worth no human words can tell,
The One through Whom the Universe was made:
Constricted in an instant to a cell
Inside a womb inside a humble maid.
Not even Mary, blessed by angel’s praise,
Who treasured all these wonders in her breast,
Could fathom that the Lord of Ancient Days
Was now the babe her gentle touch caressed.
And this was not some temporary fix,
Not Zeus upon a mortal holiday
Down slumming with the Earthlings just for kicks
To show us how it’s done, then fly away.
Our Author wrote Himself into our Tale;
His twist was that it’s now His story, too;
We flinch – such thoughts are so beyond the pale
Of what a proper deity should do.
But when Eternal Love became a man,
The Changeless God became forever changed:
Then, asking only faith, stretched out His hands
And in His death embraced a world estranged.
For Love, he did not just become a man,
In Him was forged a new humanity;
For now a human stands at God’s right hand
And God is joined to us eternally.
And so the Way of Love is opened wide
And all who follow never walk alone,
For Love has vowed to never leave our side
Just as He vowed to roll away the stone.
For Love has come, and Love is here to stay,
Not hidden in a city in the sky
But, living with His children, day by day:
Love is the way and Love is the why.
PAC CHRISTMAS 2011; ALT. 2018
