Sacrament of the Cookie Women

The annual reunion of cookie women
  takes place while preparations
  for the infant’s arrival simmer
  furiously and peak to a boil.

Readying for the event brings
  a diversity of ingredients
  mixed in love with a chrism
  that holds the body together.

The hands of friends working
  together as the cookie is
  created for exchange, honor, and love
  and the perfect gingerbread woman.

Joining together on the walk
  through the gates the friends
  find themselves enthralled
  with the preparations of gold and silver.

Entering the mansion that
  smells of cookies and cider,
  chocolate, vanilla, and cinnamon,
  incense created for the gathered body.

Listening to the music that fills
  the quiet spaces with Joy and Angels
  while the lilting conversations carried
  by Martha and Mary pass peace.

Exchanging gifts with each other,
  offering a new creation to all
  with a promise to take
  the full plate home to loved ones.

Setting aside the plates while
  reaching for a precious teacup, that is
  filled with the perfume of cider and wine
  comingled with mystery.

A liturgy created by the cookie women
  to prepare for a new covenant
  and to celebrate the beginning
  of a new relationship.

(c) 2009
Terri Stewart