Let The Stable Still Astonish

I want to feature a fellow blog-writer today; one whose writing has consistently blessed me. 

Her name is Leslie Leyland Fields and she posted this today on her blog:

Let the Stable Still Astonish

What can be more astounding than the Son of God born in a dirty stable?  This:

Let the stable still astonish:
Straw-dirt floor, dull eyes,
Dusty flanks of donkeys, oxen;
Crumbling, crooked walls;
No bed to carry that pain,
And then, the child,
Rag-wrapped, laid to cry
In a trough.

Who would have chosen this?
Who would have said: "Yes,
Let the God of all the heavens and
earth
be born here, in this place."?

Who but the same God
Who stands in the darker, fouler
rooms of our hearts
and says, "Yes, let the God
of Heaven and Earth
be born here - - - -
   
           in this place."

Let the stable still astonish!!