The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'”) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. John 1:1-18 

The Word Became Flesh

O God who breathed life into all
who hovered over your creation
calling it good and loving all
you took on flesh and came among us
living and suffering as we humans do
loving us sacrificially beyond measure.

We live in strange and painful times
when some choose to discount others
worrying only about their satisfaction
living only for personal gain and comfort
thinking they were not dependent on others.

You took on a human body to demonstrate
love's constancy and eternal presence
your word abiding with us even now
while we shelter and tremble with fear
sharing our sorrows and wiping our tears.

Lord, renew our love for one another
help us to see you incarnate in neighbors
help us to see the stranger as our family
your love alight in every human being. Amen.