Sehnsucht: noun (German), yearning, longing, pining
The weary, watching world,
An empty womb,
Awaits with longing the Coming One
We love yet have not seen.
We long for the Yule-less winter
To break into carillon peals
And joyful carols:
“Behold! Our beloved Bridegroom comes!”
The yearning overtakes us with lengthening darkness,
A sweet, painful wistfulness
That stings as we inhale the fragrance of a rose--
When we gaze at clouds like angel’s wings
With rainbow-fragment nimbus--
Or hear the clarinet melody that feels
Like homesickness for a home
I’ve never inhabited--
Or feel the hint of Great Lion’s mane
Brushing against my arm
In some obedience of love--
Or hear the faint tinkle of our High Priest’s
Bells between the pomegranates
At the hem of His robe
As He continually intercedes for us--
Or catch the merest hint of athelas on the wind.
The numinous encroaches on the fringes of our thoughts,
Alluring our hearts on pilgrimage
To a better country,
And a heavenly one.
Abiding in this emptiness,
Dwelling in the lamentful longing,
Feeling the exquisite ache
Without rushing to fill the hollow
Of sehnsucht
With earthly anodynes:
This is our Advent prayer.
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