Archive for The Gathering Place "The Gathering Place" is a web community where people can gather and make new friends, share ideas, enjoy a few laughs and learn about many interesting things together. It is a safe place where friends can correspond with each other about what they love.
"Christmas is Love come down to earth, a gift of infinite worth."
"Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
Luke 2:10 - 15
"Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift." (2 Corinthians 9:15)
“The giving of gifts is not something man invented.
God started the giving spree when he gave a gift beyond words, the unspeakable gift of His Son.”
Robert Flatt
In today’s Christmas message, “the message of what man has to sell takes precedence over the proclamation of what God has to give.” Handel H. Brown
"The greatest and most momentous fact which the history of the world records is the fact of Christ's birth."
Charles H. Spurgeon
"Selfishness makes Christmas a burden, love makes it a delight." (Unknown)
"The most important part about Christmas is the first six letters."
God's Warrior
"To prepare our hearts for Christmas, we must cultivate the spirit of expectancy." Handel H. Brown
"For the Christ-child who comes is the Master of all; No palace too great, no cottage too small." Phillips Brooks
"Christmas in Bethlehem. The ancient dream: a cold, clear night made brilliant by a glorious star, the smell of incense, shepherds and wise men falling to their knees in adoration of the sweet baby, the incarnation of perfect love."
Lucinda Franks
"And in the Christ-Child we behold the Lord of Life and Love."
Unknown
"Christ was born in the first century, yet he belongs to all centuries. He was born a Jew, yet He belongs to all races. He was born in Bethlehem, yet He belongs to all countries."
George W. Truett
God's Warrior
"Commercialization has obscured the meaning of Christmas.
The commercial has become more important than the carol.
What man has to sell more important than what God has given."
Anonymous
"When we ask our children 'What do you want for Christmas?', we are asking a question that breeds selfishness. In order to develop selflessness we should be asking, 'What are you going to give?' Christmas is the celebration of God's great gift giving - 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son...(John 3:16)"
Robert Flatt
"The early Christians did not rejoice because of better things to come. They rejoiced because Christ had come. God's unspeakable gift was not provisional. They rejoiced because it was final." Handel H. Brown
"Some businessmen are saying this could be the greatest Christmas ever. I always thought that the first one was."
Art Fettig
"Christmas is less than what it can be - and less than what it was intended to be - where gifts are given grudgingly, and where gifts are received without appreciation."
Unknown
"I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat of peace on earth,
goodwill to men!" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"Best of all, Christmas means a spirit of love, a time when the love of God and the love of our fellow men should prevail over all hatred and bitterness, a time when our thoughts and deeds and the spirit of our lives manifest the presence of God." (George F. McDougall)
God's Warrior
"Peace on earth will come to stay when we live Christmas Day every day." Helen Steiner Rice
"Bless us Lord, this Christmas, with quietness of mind;
Teach us to be patient and always to be kind."
Helen Steiner Rice
"And is it true? And is it true,
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass window’s hue,
A Baby in an ox’s stall?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for me?"
Sir John Betjeman
"We celebrate the birth of one who told us to give everything to the poor by giving each other motorized tie racks."
Bill McKibben
“He [Jesus] was born in a barn to show what God thinks of human pride, of human ambition, of human loftiness, of human hardness…of those who turn to religion only because of what they think it can do for them…of those who always insist on having a place at the high table and are miserable when others are put before them…of those personal jealousies and those family feuds that mar the fellowship with God.”
Handel H. Brown
"He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a tree."
Sunshine Magazine
"To the American People: Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind.
To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy,
is to have the real spirit of Christmas..."
Calvin Coolidge, December 25, 1927
God's Warrior
"Christmas is based on an exchange of gifts:
the gift of God to man - his unspeakable gift of his son Jesus;
and the gift of man to God - when we present our bodies as a living sacrifice and, like the Macedonians (2 Corinthians 8:5), first give ourselves to God. No one has kept or can keep Christmas until he has had a part in this two-way transaction." Vance Havner
"Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas;
Star and angels gave the sign."
Christina Rossetti
"Like Thanksgiving, the spirit of Christmas was never meant to be shut up into
a single day." (Robert Flatt)
"Christmas began in the heart of God. It is complete only when
it reaches the heart of man." Anonymous
“Christmas has lost its meaning for us because we have lost the spirit of expectancy.
We cannot prepare for an observance. We must prepare for an experience.”
Handel H. Brown
God's Warrior
Next to a circus there ain't nothing that packs up and tears out faster than the Christmas spirit.
-- Frank McKinney Hubbard
From a commercial point of view, if Christmas did not exist it would be necessary to invent it.
-- Katharine Whitehorn
You know you're getting old, when Santa starts looking younger.
-- Robert Paul
I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included. -- Bernard Manning
I stopped believing in Santa Claus when my mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph. -- Shirley Temple
Even before Christmas has said Hello, it's saying 'Buy Buy' -- Robert Paul
God's Warrior
Let us pray that strength and courage abundant be given to all who work for a world of reason and understanding, that the good that lies in every man's heart may day by day be magnified, that men will come to see more clearly not that which divides them, but that which unites them, that each hour may bring us closer to a final victory, not of nation over nation, but of man over his own evils and weaknesses, that the true spirit of this Christmas season - it's joy, its beauty, its hope, and above all its abiding faith - may live among us, that the blessings of peace be ours - the peace to build and grow, to live in harmony and sympathy with others, and to plan for the future with confidence.
Unknown author
God's Warrior
Now, 'Dasher!' now, 'Dancer!' now, 'Prancer' and 'Vixen!'
On, 'Comet!' on, 'Cupid!' on, 'Donner' and 'Blitzen!'
- - - Clement C. Moore "The Night Before Christmas"
Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat,
Please to put a penny in an old man's hat;
If you haven't got a penny a ha'penny will do,
If you haven't got a ha'penny, God bless you.
- - - Mother Goose
We consider Christmas as the encounter, the great encounter, the historical encounter, the decisive encounter, between God and mankind. He who has faith knows this truly; let him rejoice.
- - - Pope Paul VI "Christmas address 23 Dec 65"
I hear that in many places something has happened to Christmas; that it is changing from a time of merriment and carefree gaiety to a holiday which is filled with tedium; that many people dread the day and the obligation to give Christmas presents is a nightmare to weary, bored souls; that the children of enlightened parents no longer believe in Santa Claus; that all in all, the effort to be happy and have pleasure makes many honest hearts grow dark with despair instead of beaming with good will and cheerfulness.
- - - Julia Peterkin "A Plantation Christmas" (1934)
God's Warrior
Christmas is the one time of year when people of all religions come together to worship Jesus Christ.
Bart Simpson "The Simpsons" 1989
Christmas begins about the first of December with an office party and ends when you finally realize what you spent, around April fifteenth of the next year.
P. J. O'Rourke
At Christmas play and make good cheer,
For Christmas comes but once a year.
Thomas Tusser "The Farmer's Daily Diet
At Christmas I no more desire a rose
Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth;
But like of each thing that in season grows.
William Shakespeare "Love's Labour's Lost"
Christmas is the day that holds all time together.
Alexander Smith
Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love. Hamilton Wright Mabi
Christmas comes but once a year. - Proverb
I'm walking backwards till Christmas.
Spike Milligan - The Goon Show
God's Warrior
Do give books - religious or otherwise - for Christmas. They're never fattening, seldom sinful, and permanently personal.
- - - Lenore Hershey
Next to a circus there ain't nothing that packs up and tears out faster than the Christmas spirit.
- - - Kin Hubbard
A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.
- - - Garrison Keillor
Christmas in Bethlehem. The ancient dream: a cold, clear night made brilliant by a glorious star, the smell of incense, shepherds and wise men falling to their knees in adoration of the sweet baby, the incarnation of perfect love.
- - - Lucinda Franks "Pilgrimage" NY Times 23 Dec 84
May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope;
The spirit of Christmas which is peace;
The heart of Christmas which is love.
- - - Ada V. Hendricks
God's Warrior
Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home!
- - - Charles Dickens
I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.
- - - Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol"
Silver bells, silver bells,
It's Christmas time in the city.
- - - Ray Evans "Silver Bells"
In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it 'Hanukka' and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!' or 'Happy Hanukka!' or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!'"
- - - Dave Barry "Christmas Shopping: A Survivor's Guide"
God's Warrior
"You might as well do your Christmas hinting early."
Unknown
Let the children have their night of fun and laughter, let the gifts of Father Christmas delight their play. Let us grown-ups share to the full in their unstinted pleasures....
Sir Winston Churchill 1874-1965
At Christmas I no more desire a rose
Than wish a snow in May's newfangled mirth;
But life of each thing that in season grows.
William Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost 1:1
"I have often thought, says Sir Roger, it happens very well that Christmas should fall in the Middle of winter."
Joseph Addison 1672-1719
"Christians awake, salute the happy morn,
Whereon the Saviour of the world was born."
John Byron 1692-1763
God's Warrior
At Christmas play and make good cheer,
For Christmas comes but once a year. - from "A Hundred Points of Good Husbandry", 1557
As I sat on a sunny bank,
On Chrismas Day in the morning,
I spied three ships once sailing by.
Unknown author - As I Sat on a Sunny Bank
"While shepherd's watch'd their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground,
The Angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around."
Nahum Tate 1652-1715
"At Christmas play and make good cheer,
For Christmas comes but once a year."
Thomas Tusser 1524-80
"To perceive Christmas through its wrapping becomes more difficult with every year."
Elwyn Brooks White 1809-1985
"Little Jack Horner
Sat in a corner
Eating a Christmas Pie;
He put in his thumb,
And said, What a good boy Am I!"
Nursery Rhyme - Namby Pamby (Henry Carey)
