hay and straw

O Lord, you have created all!

How did you come to be so small,

To sweetly sleep in manger-bed

Where lowing cattle lately fed?

Were earth a thousand times as fair,

Beset with gold and jewels rare,

She yet were far too poor to be

A narrow cradle, Lord, for thee.

For velvets soft and silken stuff

You have but hay and straw so rough

On which as king so rich and great

To be enthroned in humble state.

Ah, dearest Jesus, holy child,

Make thee a bed, soft, undefiled,

Within my heart, that it may be

A quiet chamber kept for thee.

-  from Magnificat, December 2014

(Rembrandt)