Merry Christmas!

Here it is almost Christmas day, and as I finish up with all the wrapping and preparations and house cleaning that needs to be done today, and as the SNOW just keeps on falling! I shall take a few moments to remember why I celebrate. Because of the babe that came into the world on that first Christmas night when the Star shone brightly over the manger where He lay, and the miracle that God gave the world that day and what it means for all eternity.

In the Bleak Midwinter

(Christina Rossetti 1830-1894)

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,

In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

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Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;

Heav'n and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign:

In the bleak midwinter, a stable-place sufficed

The Lord God incarnate, Jesus Christ.

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Angels and archangels may have gathered there,

Cherubim and seraphim thronged in the air;

But his mother only, in her maiden bliss,

Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

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What can I give him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

If I were a wise man, I would do my part;

Yet what can I give him, give him my heart.