Dear Beloved

Advent Letters to Light

Dear Beloved,

you said yes to a journey
to traveling a long road that you were told led to the birth of baby
whose heart and cries would hold the face and voice of god
whose being would ignite lights of hope, peace, joy and love

bravely you wandered, boldly you wondered
engaging all your senses, carrying curiosity and awe
daring to question everything you felt and saw
all you were taught to believe and to doubt about the world and yourself
hope, despair and grief
violence, revenge and peace
fear, laughter and joy
shame and love
loving and living and dying
burial and rising
the long of night
the dark of day
the beauty of dawn and dusk
the trust we find in waiting times
the gift of uncertainty
the strength of our ability to survive
the way the moonlight shines warmer and brighter than the sun
the pattern of the stars offering a map to a new path

one where beloved is not an adjective
but a noun, a magnificent proper noun
a one word song composed only of our name
a harmonious musical proclamation of who we are
beloved

beloved, like every baby born
every child hiding in a bunker, held hostage in a tunnel
laying under ruin and rubble
killed in holy lands, innocent victims of unholy wars
like every mother desperately seeking a room, a refuge, a shore
like every family waiting for a border to open, for safe crossing
for liberation and opportunity

beloved, like every animal in that stable
like anyone reaching for a seat at a table
like every hungry soul aching for physical and spiritual staples
lamenting that only crumbs are available
like shepherds ever watching
warning of the dangers the powerful create to destroy and distract
like sages reminding us of age old wisdom
of an ancient timely lesson
beloved

the holy once came to creation in the birth of baby
the stars beaming as candles of celebration
illuminating both earth and the heavens
with a kaleidoscope of lights shining brightest and best together
not in competition with one another or the painful realities of the human condition

the baby’s name is jesus
announcing glory is among us
our name is now and has always been beloved
so too is our labor and our birthing
our sorrows and our yearning
our knowing and our learning
our journey and our searching
our letting go and our releasing
our holding and our keeping
our resistance and protesting
our queerness and our queering
beloved

beloved
the goodness of our being
god present at our birth and in our very being

beloved is who we are
and Christmas comes to gift us this reminding

I am
we are
and they are too
and creation is when we live as though it’s true
beloved

Rebecca Wilson, 10 Camels, 2023

Thank you for joining us at the Well this Advent and for sharing this space with others here and on social media. We hope our words have been a water-filled source of healing, comfort, inspiration, encouragement, and perhaps challenge.