Posted: Wed May 31, 2006 6:47 am Post subject: Christmas Poems
The Work of Christmas
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.
Howard Thurman
- Howard Thurman
Last edited by God's Warrior on Wed Nov 15, 2006 10:49 pm; edited 2 times in total
Posted: Wed May 31, 2006 6:49 am Post subject: Our Gift to God
Our Gift to God
In a lowly stable
Far away from the crowd,
A tiny baby was born
That would make His Father proud.
Oh-h-h.....it wasn't just any baby
Born that night,
Under the Bethlehem star
That shone so bright.
No one knew
About the Greatest News on Earth,
Until an angel appeared to the shepherds
About His birth.
As the glory of the Lord shone round about them,
The shepherds were so afraid.
What was this amazing thing that was happening,
That only God could have made?
"Fear not," said the angel, "for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you, Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manager."
Suddenly, there appeared with the angel
A multitude of the heavenly host,
Praising God and rejoicing the birth
Of what the world needed the most.
As the wise men from the East followed the star
In search of the baby born from afar,
King Herod secretly made a plan
To kill all the male babies in the land.
Two years and younger
Was Herod's scheme,
But an angel appeared to Joseph
In a dream.
He said, "Take Mother and Child
Into Egypt you must flee,"
For Herod was killing boy babies
In search of Thee.
Now the wise men found Jesus in a house
And fell down to worship Him as the prophecies foretold,
Opening their treasures they presented Him gifts
Of frankincense, myrrh and gold.
Now Christmas is the time
God gave us the Greatest Gift of all,
His Son Jesus,
The Savior of the world since the fall.
But our gift to God
Is to receive His Son,
Who was with Him before
The world had even begun.
Fall on your knees
And bow down to the King,
He is the Only One
That has given you everything.
2003 BBB (Brenda B.B.)
Last edited by God's Warrior on Wed Nov 15, 2006 10:49 pm; edited 1 time in total
Christmas Eve Saint Francis and Saint Benedight
Blesse this house from wicked wight;
From the night-mare and the goblin,
That is hight good fellow Robin:
Keep it from all evil spirits,
Fairies, weezels, rats, and ferrets:
From curfew time To the next prime.
Thomas Cartwright
English Puritan clergyman, Cambridge
Whatever else be lost among the years,
Let us keep Christmas still a shining thing;
Whatever doubts assail us, or what fears,
Let us hold close one day, remembering
It's poignant meaning for the hearts of men.
Let us get back our childlike faith again.
- - - Grace Noll Crowell
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,
Just like the ones I used to know,
Where the tree tops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow.
- - - Irving Berlin
Have yourself a merry little Christmas, make the Yuletide gay.
- - - Ralph Blane "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
God rest you merry, gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ, our Saviour,
Was born upon this day,
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray.
O tidings of comfort and joy!
For Jesus Christ, our Saviour,
Was born on Christmas Day.
- Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
"Christmas Bells"
I heard the bells, on Christmas Day,
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
- - - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas;
Star and angels gave the sign.
- - - Christina Rossetti
'Twas Christmas broach'd the mightiest ale;
'Twas Christmas told the merriest tale;
A Christmas gambol oft could cheer
The poor man's heart through half the year.
- - - Sir Walter Scott "Marmion"
The time draws near the birth of Christ;
The moon is hid; the night is still;
The Christmas bells from hill to hill
Answer each other in the mist.
- - - Alfred, Lord Tennyson "In Memoriam"
Christmas is here:
Winds whistle shrill,
Icy and chill.
Little care we;
Little we fear
Weather without,
Sheltered about
The Mahogany Tree.
- - - William Makepeace Thackeray "The Mahogany Tree"
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... An American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."
"Daddy," she said, her eyes full of tears,
"Will you talk to me and quiet my fears?"
Those bad boys at school are spreading a lie
'Bout the impossibility of reindeer that fly.
There's no Santa Claus, they say with a grin,
There's not one now and never has been.
How can one man take all those toys?
To thousands of girls and boys?
ut I told them daddy, that they were not right,
That I would come home and find out tonight.
Mama said wait until you get home
Please tell me now that I was not wrong."
Her daddy looked at her questioning face
And puffed his pipe while his frantic mind raced.
He had put this thing off as long as he could,
He had to think fast and it better be good.
Whispering a prayer, he began with a smile,
"Well climb on my lap, dear, let's talk a while."
"Remember at church how we learned to pray,
Asking God to take care of us each day?
And you know how we say grace before each meal?
To this same God whom we know to be real
Though we never see Him, we know He is there
Watching his children with such loving care."
"God started Christmas a long time ago
When He gave us His son to love and to know.
A spirit of giving came with that birth,
And God's generosity filled the whole earth.
Man had to name this spirit of giving
Just as He names all things that are living."
"The name Santa Claus came to someone's mind
Probably the best name of any to find
There is, you can see, and I think it quite clear,
Truly a Santa who visits each year.
Spirits like God, whom we never see
He enters the hearts of your mother and me."
Each year at Christmas for one special night
We become him and make everything right.
But the REAL spirit of Christmas is in you and in me,
And I hope you are old enough now to see
That as we believe and continue to give,
Our friend Santa Claus will continue to live."
Last edited by God's Warrior on Wed Apr 18, 2007 9:10 pm; edited 1 time in total
Rather than ruining the good times, just remember:
The Month after Christmas
Twas the month after Christmas all through the house
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I'd nibbled, the eggnog I'd taste
At the holiday parties had gone to my waist.
When I got on the scales there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber).
I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared;
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,
The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese
And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."
As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt--
I said to myself, as I only can
"You can't spend a winter disguised as a man!"
So -- away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
Till all the additional ounces have vanished.
I won't have a cookie -- not even a lick.
I'll only chew on a long celery stick.
I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie,
I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.
I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore-
But isn't that what January is for?
Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Home
FAQ
Memberlist
Usergroups
Join! (free) 
Profile
Messages
Login/Out
