Christmas Mail
By Ted Kooser

Cards in each mailbox,
angel, manger, star and lamb,
as the rural carrier,
driving the snowy roads,
hears from her bundles,
the plaintive bleating of sheep,
the shuffle of sandals,
the clopping of camels.
At stop after stop,
she opens the little tin door
and places deep in the shadows
the shepherd and wise men,
the donkeys lank and weary,
the cow who chews and muses.
And from her Styrofoam cup,
white as a star and perched
on the dashboard, leading her
ever into the distance,
there is a hint of hazelnut,
and then a touch of myrrh.

This poem by Ted Kooser reminds me how Christmas can bring extra meaning to even the routine things I do. The poem describes a mail carrier delivering Christmas cards and ‘stop after stop’ describes the ordinariness of her daily routine. The Christmas story in the images on the cards brings the divine to the day-to-day. The dashboard, with the white cup leading her, like the star, toward to the blessed holiday, flavored with hazelnut, then a hint of myrrh; one of the gifts brought by a king to the Christ child.

During this Christmas week may you see in the ordinary, day to day things that you do:

folding laundry,
printing billing statements,
delivering meals,
shoveling snowy driveways and walks,
mopping floors,
passing medications,
answering the phone,
answering call lights,
tending lonely hearts,
the presence of the divine.

“The fullness of joy is to behold God in everything.” – Julian of Norwich

“Hanging laundry on the line offers you the chance to fly prayer flags disguised
as bath towels and underwear.” – Barbara Taylor Brown

Reflection by Sarah McEvoy, CPE Intern