Rabbit Awake

In the icon of Christ's Nativity each of the story figures is wide awake—the Holy Mother, Joseph, the angels and the shepherds, the midwives, the magi traveling by starlight, the cow and the donkey. And way down on the bottom (look deeply) along the edge of the icon, is sometimes found a small rabbit. Even she is wide awake to the great mystery of God drawing near to us, not to our condemnation and extinction, but in restorative love.

On Christmas Eve, on my way over to the chapel a bit before dusk, a small brown rabbit ran across the lawn at the edge of the snowy woods. Half an hour later, leaving the chapel, I saw the rabbit again some yards off and disappearing into the brush. Rabbits are nocturnal—they see well in the darkness. This caused me to look again at the Nativity icon I have here.

In the picture below, my photographer friend has zoomed in on the rabbit found in my icon. Rabbits sleep with their eyes open. This little rabbit has a knowing look in her eye. The painter has not added the rabbit for the sake of Christmas whimsy, but more likely as a visual echo of Christ's persistent invitation to wake up in the encroaching darkness. Can you name it?

Prayer Before the Wide-awake Rabbit of the Nativity Icon.

May I stay awake to the loss of soul—

our devolving to the level of beasts.

May I be conscious,

and of evolved conscience...

alive to my own Christ-person,

my unique self 

lived authentically,

as Christ lived his.

In the midst of the destruction,

may I remain wide-eyed

to what remains lovely,

elegant and good...

watchful,

but with a guard

on my lips and eyes.

May I remain observant of others,

to aid and comfort,
to wipe away tears,

heedful of the inner voice,

pointing me in some new direction,
the need to be taught.

Alert to grace,

may I be drawn to inner kindness and

growth in goodness.

Darkness is descending—

the sleeping of hearts,

the dulling of minds. 

May I know my self.

May I stay attentive to indifference,

willful ignorance,

our free fall into insanity,

vigilant, 
lest the faith I profess

become exclusive,
self-congratulatory,
irrelevant.

Father Stephen P. Morris