a blanket of silence

woodcut by Harlan Hubbard

Advent is a time of waiting, 

     of expectation, 

          of silence.  

Waiting for our Lord to be born. 

A pregnant woman is so happy, 

     so content. 

She lives in such a garment of silence, 

and it is as though she were listening to hear 

     the stir of life within her. 

One always hears the stirring compared to 

     the rustling of a bird in the hand. 

But the intentness with which one awaits such stirring 

     is like nothing so much 

          as a blanket of silence.  

Dorothy Day