After we finished excersizing today I collapsed to the floor by our bookshelves in the living room and said “Whew! I’m going to sleep right here!” I turned my head to the side and was about to close my eyes when I noticed one of my old German poetry books from college. I hadn’t looked in it probably since college and so I picked it up and it opened to the following short poem by Angelus Silesius .
It Depends on You (by Angelus Silesius)
Oh, if only your heart could become a manger, God would once again become a child on earth.
The imagery and words immediately brought varying thoughts to my mind.
First, the image of a manger. When we read in Luke chapter 2, we read of Joseph and Mary trying to find room in the busy inns. In contrast, they find a humble location and a place in a manger. In addition, I looked up words similar to “manger” in the thesarus and words such as “bassinet” and “cradle” are synonomous to manger. I asked myself, is my heart like the inn or like the manger? What can I do to clear it out and make it a place that God can rest?
The next thing I thought of was the part stating that “God would become once again as a child on earth.” I thought of the numerous scriptures that Jesus spoke of us becoming like a child. My favorite scripture is in Mosiah 3:19 when it talks about putting away our natural man and becoming patient, meek, humble, and willing to accept everything God gives us…the good and the not-so-good.
I’d like to hear what you thought of as you read the poem or my comments.
How can we make room in our hearts for the Savior?
What can we do to become humble and meek like a child?
Why is it important, or is it even important to do these things?
6 comments
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February 5, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Ari-Amber
Aaron,
That is a pretty cool thought you found there.
Your idea and where you went with it reminds me of a song that I wrote for Christmas – I think I sent it to you too – but the last verse says:
“Now so many years later we look back upon that babe,
And understand why he was so great – because his life for us he gave.
And yet do we make no room for him? Do we forget his humility?
And how our goal is to be like him? And do we forget what we say when we sing… Glory to God in the Highest and on earth Peace and Good Will Toward Men…”
I think a lot of times we forget about what is important and how to keep it forefront in our minds – I am the first to admit that I’m guilty of it. For me it just helps to keep in perspective when we realize that its our job to keep spirituality and God’s Love in our minds in order to “house” what He has to offer. Otherwise, He is again “homeless” like he was when he was born…
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February 5, 2008 at 7:51 pm
ama49
Thanks for your thoughts and your song, Ari!
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February 5, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Krisy
WOW! Aaron, that is really awesome! That really made my day! I will definately be sharing this post with others. Thanks bud!
Krisy
P.S. received your card today. Thanks1
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February 8, 2008 at 2:59 am
Brad
Wow Aaron… Another great post that I’ll have to pass on to some friends. I have been a bit behind on my blog reading. 🙂
As I think about this and your most recent post I was thinking about you heart as a place where Jesus could rest comfortably like a baby in the manger… When we were children all of our hearts were like that… As you get older it’s harder to see past our own bias and prejudice. Thanks for the insightful post. 🙂
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February 25, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Removing the Dark Glasses and Seeing as a Child « Grace for Grace
[…] 25, 2008 by ama49 In a recent post, entitled “Making our Hearts a Manger,” one of my friends, Brad Trnavsky, shared an interesting insight. He commented […]
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April 13, 2008 at 7:35 am
For my Christian Friends and of other Faiths « Grace for Grace
[…] Some more of my Christian friends made some good comments and analogies on the “Making our Hearts a Manger” post a couple months […]
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