GLORY'S OVERSHADOWING | a Christmas Poem
God lay low in the pelvis of a woman
/ look there! through the trees Glory’s overshadowing covers those living under the shadow of death— & the One who conceived constellations & comets— giving them birth with a shout of joy is himself conceived & formed in a womb he made out of dust. see now! he who labored to lay low ocean floors & raise up horizons lay low in the pelvis of a woman laboring long amongst the ewes bleating with their newborn lambs these other mothers of sacrifice. hear how her sighs signaled the shattering of sorrows as he who was emerged at last— in water, blood & vernix swirling like the milky way Mary’s tears of relief a prophecy of longing & of joy. listen! his first cry signaled it was safe to hope again, as he lay in a feeding trough, the cut grass beneath him smelling of both life & death— of a sacramental feast. like the bread of life rising from grains crushed to dust— like the stars long dead still shouting in the silence “GLORIA! he’s here!” you could hear them for miles! the great hosts of heaven belting with a boom like thunder “GLORIA! he’s here!” how terrifying! these songs of glory & peace must have sounded to these least of these shepherds stood aghast until at last, they too saw the babe wrapped in swaddles as foretold. the holiest in the lowliest— and you could see it in their awestruck faces this story is too strange to be a lie— who could conceive it? watch them bolt through city streets, their feet pounding out the sound of joy pouring out of their dry lips “GLORIA! —he’s here!” who could conceive? of God wrapped in fragile flesh— “GLORIA! he’s here —at last.” —glory’s overshadowing
A love note from me to you—
Dearest Reader,
If you are like me, then this time of year might be feeling a little heavier to hold than it has in years past. Between the anxiety/anticipation of the upcoming shift in our political landscape, the challenging financial times many of us find ourselves in, and the pain that comes with the holiday season for those who have loved/lost and for those who have deconstructed a faith system—there is a lot to carry, and a lot of pain to name.
In light of all this, before we get much further, I want to let you all know about a little something I am offering for the rest of December. Consider it a Christmas Gift from me to you—for a limited time I am offering 20% off an annual Paid Subscription to The House of Rest.
This next year is going to be really fun for our paid folks as I have big plans to launch an exclusive book club, right here on Substack, for us to chat about my upcoming book Daughter of Breath. I’m also planning to add weekly writing prompts and discussion threads so that YOU can begin to name some of your own experiences in poetic form and hear feedback from other readers (and from me!) I’m also hoping to add more audio (and maybe even some video?) content this coming year as well.
In other news—
I want to share with you a little bit about how these past few weeks have been for me since I formally came out on the internet—now that those of you who are here have chosen to stay.
I’m not going to lie, it’s been a challenging and triggering time for me in many respects. Though I expected opposition from some readers, and pushback from the faith communities I used to inhabit, it still hurt.
I have been accused of “using my church trauma as [my] muse.” I have been accused of coming out as bisexual because I have no friends and am desperate for acceptance from the LGBTQ+ community. Most hurtfully, I have been accused of not believing the truth about what God says about me.
The truth is, that it is GOD who led me to this truth. GOD who has been my anchor through the ups and downs of coming out. And it was at GOD’s urging that I came out publicly, not in order to “parade my sin around,” as I have been accused, but because GOD LOVES YOU DEAR READER, JUST AS YOU ARE AND HE TOLD ME TO TELL YOU.
I realize that for some theological frameworks, this seems to be an impossibility. The “gospel” that they have grown up believing is exclusionary, and they are sure that they are 100% right about the lines they have drawn. There is very little curiosity, and whole lot of fear about exploring differing perspectives on passages that have historically been used to exclude, sideline, and silence. But my job as a writer is not to write defensively so that I might be understood by everyone. My job is to write for my reader. For you.
If you are reading this, then you have probably had to do some disentangling or deconstructing of faith systems at some point. You are probably tired of carrying around religious trauma baggage. Perhaps you are longing to reconnect with the Jesus you thought you knew, even when so many who claim his name seem to use it to oppress others. Perhaps you are a closet queer, a closet feminist, a closet “woke” progressive christian who has seen the inconsistencies in the church in America of late—and you’re wondering how you can move forward with the God you still love, even while there are parts of the church that you hate. Perhaps you aren’t sure what you believe anymore, but you want to begin to name some of that pain so that you can move towards wholeness and freedom, whatever that is.
I write for that reader. I write for YOU. And I will not shut up. Nor will I waste my precious and finite emotional energy defending my work to people who have already decided not to understand. If you want to stay, then I am writing for you. I see you. And I know you see me too.
And if you feel it’s time for you to go—I pray you go in peace, and that the God of all comfort would continue to find you, wherever your faith journey is taking you next.
And now for more fun news;
In the middle of all the chaos of my coming out publicly, I have also begun to put together pre-order bonuses for those of you who decided to give a gift to your future self in the form of my upcoming book Daughter of Breath, coming March 4, 2025.
Obviously, there will be digital pre-order bonuses for folks that order from online retailers other than my shop, (the only choice for those not in the US unfortunately) but I am very excited to offer tangible goodies like this adorable bookmark and this cute moon sticker (with the lines “no one tells the moon/to overcome her phases”) to folks who order through my poetry shop.
Click here to Pre-Order Now!
I’ll be adding more things as I make them, but I’m pretty excited with what I’ve come up with so far. If you have a suggestion for a super fun pre-order bonus, both digital and otherwise, feel free to send me a DM or drop it in the comments!
Pre-Ordering from my shop gets you a signed copy, all the fun goodies, and gives ME the joy of being able to personally send you a book so that it arrives to you by the day of launch. (None of that funny business like we dealt with from Amazon last time m’kay?)
For those of you who tried to order the book last time I mentioned it, but didn’t because there was a crazy shipping fee attached, that should all be fixed now! FREE SHIPPING YAY!
ADDITIONALLY; if you are still interested in reading an early copy, I still have room on my ARC team and will send you a digital copy POST HASTE, all you have to do is signup here and pinky promise to leave a review the week of launch.
Alright, I’ve gone on long enough. Christmas is just around the corner, and for those of you who have complicated relationships with church/Christmas/faith this year—I just want to tell you that it does get better.
This year is the first year in probably four years that I’ve felt peaceful about celebrating the coming of Jesus in a less traditional way—and more excited than ever because for me this year Christmas is a reminder that Jesus came for those of us on the margins—and he showed us this by first coming to those on the margins. This will never stop being good news.
I think I’ll probably write an essay about that for next week, so stay tuned.
Until then, be blessed Dear Reader, wherever you find yourself on the faith journey today. There is room for you here.
Warmly,
Grace E. Kelley
For each person who responds to your truth with fear and unkindness, there are a dozen more in the shadows whose hearts have been sparked by your words and your courage to step into the light. Keep going 🥰
what a lovely poem!