Our Precious Time Being
By Stephanie Nagley
(Excerpts of ‘Christmas Oratorio,’ For the Time Being by W H Auden, written 1941-42)
http://hopeeternal.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/christmas-oratorio-w-h-auden/
Well, so that is that. Now we must dismantle the tree,
Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes --
…There are enough
Left-overs to do, warmed-up, for the rest of the week --
Not that we have much appetite, having drunk such a lot,
Stayed up so late, attempted -- quite unsuccessfully --
To love all of our relatives, and in general
Grossly overestimated our powers…
…for the time being, here we all are,
The Time Being is, in a sense, the most trying time of all.
…There are bills to be paid, machines to keep in repair,
Irregular verbs to learn, the Time Being to redeem
From insignificance. The happy morning is over,…God's Will will be done, …God will cheat no one, not even the world of its triumph.
The Time Being is the most trying time of all and where we spend most of our days. The decorations are already or about to be put away. The Christmas music is gone or nearly gone even though it’s still Christmas. We return to the everyday trying to hold on to where we’ve been.
We must live in this world, as difficult as it is. We must live in this world and do our feeble best to hold on to the truth that is within us hanging on to the belief that God will cheat no one.
God will cheat no one of the breadth and depth of human existence with all its joy and sorrow. Because we are human, the triumphs and toils of our days find us and in that crucible of life, in that manger, we are given the opportunity to birth the very existence of Christ for the Word became flesh and lives in us.
God will cheat no one and in the fullness of time the world will know what we touched - the very presence of love born in Bethlehem
We move on now and into this new year. We aren’t who we were last year at this time or even a week ago. The star that pointed the way for the shepherds continues show the way - our guiding light in this time being. It is our compass and shield. Even though the bills must be paid, and the laundry loaded in the Maytag, we aren’t the same.
This New Year is ours to make of more than the last. We have a year to practice the experience of new birth. We have a year to practice love. We have a year of time being to be present to God in a way we couldn’t a year ago.
