Across this desert land we came

With laden backs and heavy loads

We didn’t have an easy trip

 No simple paths or painless roads

But standing here, outside the house

We share an anxious smile

Will what we find inside be worth the while?

 

 

We fear to find the truth

 

It’s such an odd and crazy thing

 

The truth: Might we be wrong again somehow?

 

It seems too ordinary for a king

 

But no—it’s too late to turn back now

 

We can’t seem to believe our eyes

 

How can it be this way?

 

Divinity in a shell of clay

 

 

 

We hush as the father lets us in

 

He gives a little knowing nod

 

The house is just a simple place—

 

How could this have occurred to God?

 

The mother holds the child

 

He opens sleepy eyes

 

And as we bow in awe we realize

 

 

 

At last, we’ve found the truth

 

It’s such an odd and crazy thing

 

The truth: no more counterfeits or lies

 

It seems too ordinary for a king

 

But no—it’s too holy for our eyes

 

As tears of joy come falling down

 

We shake our heads and pray

 

Divinity in a shell of clay

 

 

 

We give the child our precious gifts

 

Smile at how minor they now seem

 

He laughs and plays with bits of gold

 

He sneezes at spices fit for kings

 

The hardships as we traveled

 

The things we thought we knew

 

The world is now eclipsed by living Truth

 

 

 

We found it in the child

 

It’s such an odd and crazy plan

 

The Child—the Creator and the King

 

This Child, so tiny and so great

 

This Child—for whom all creation sings

 

We weep in wonder, awe and joy

 

How can it be this way?

 

Divinity in a shell of clay