To Play The Role

The daycare was filled with kids young and old

As Santa strode in from the snow and the cold

And all of their eyes beheld him in red

Lit up their faces, no words were yet said

With a “Ho ho ho” Santa was there!

At their little daycare with nary a care

He’d come just to see them to bring them a smile

Took time to stop in and chat for awhile

Their eyes were like saucers, so big and so round

They stood and they looked and gaped at the mound

Of red suit and hat, big beard and black belt

The love welled right up and he thought he might melt

And he became Santa, the jolly old elf

He loved each and every one little self

To see adoration and know it can be

A good thing or bad thing, it was all up to me

My best I put forth, to allow them to see

The beauty of Christmas and all it can be

For it is when we give with no thought of return

That love rushes forth and in one’s heart does burn

The clear and distilled message today

To love each and everyone passing our way

And as I waved goodbye and said my farewells

They called “Merry Christmas” and jingled some bells

As I walked along and went out to my sleigh

Santa stayed with me throughout all the day

e is a real person you know

He is in all of us if we just let him show.

Thank you Santa. Merry Chirstmas. ©

A Christmas Anthology - Part Eight - Merry Christmas to all.

So closing this extended verse, I wonder how to do

The lessons in the prophecies, the Gospels are for you

And me to learn the truth of Christ, the reason that He came

Was more to know a giving God than just to know His name.

His mother Mary, bless her heart, gave Jesus human life

She nourished Him and brought Him forth and then became a wife.

And mother too, to Him, her Son, a most important job

For mothers love, that’s what they do, it’s why their hearts do throb.

Now Joseph gave his trust to God, that all would turn out right

He listened when he was spoken to and heard from God at night.

He set the tone for family life. He was a grateful man.

For all that he’d been given, he knew it was God’s plan.

For this is what it’s all about, the giving part I mean

If you’ll recall the animals around the manger scene

What could they give? An animal? Why, they provided heat.

It’s what they had, it’s what they could and did provide that’s sweet.

The shepherds came with nothing but their wonder and their awe

Which proved to be quite the gift when they realized what they saw

The Magi gave their earthly gifts with homage and respect

Two very important things to give to those whom we neglect.

Of all these words and all this talk, my point is overdue

The reason for the season is God’s gift to you

The gift He sent, the greatest prize, to you and me and all

That we may know and worship Him for that is our great call.

Merry Christmas.

And Happy Birthday to you, my dear Robin - December 23

A Christmas Anthology - Part Seven

So off they went, the three of them, in search of Son of Man

And when they found the place He was, their gifts they gave began

The tradition we still do today. The tradition done with love

When we give gifts at Christmas time, we honor God above.

They gave Him frankincense, a spice from far and long away

And myrrh, a similar thing to use to freshen up the day

And gold they gave, in homage to the one they’d come to find

For wise they were and generous too as well as very kind.

The night they left, they had a dream, a kind of sleep alarm

That Herod, the Roman king was planning to do harm

To the newborn king and so they went and took another route

And headed home by a different road on which was no pursuit

Remember now, that Herod knew that Christ was borne a king

He knew the town and had to act to save his royal ring.

And when he found the wise men gone without honoring his rule

He was quite mad, very much upset that he had been so fooled

He gave an evil order to protect himself and Rome.

Kill all the boys under two years old who make Bethlehem their home

But before the act was carried out, before the deed was done

Joseph had another dream to take his wife and son

To leave for Egypt, get out now and stay until you’re free

To come this way again as you return to live in Galilee.

They left there fast, they had no choice, their lives were in the hands

Of God himself. They trusted Him to guide them through the lands

This story of salvation is 2000 plus years plus old.

It is only the beginning of a story so often told

The story of the Son of God, sent here by His own call.

For us to hear His voice, His name, Jesus, Savior of us all.

A Christmas Anthology - Part Six

From all of this and more, my friend, the Christ child does appear

With shepherds watching in their fields and angels singing clear

“We bring great joy to all today, for in King Davids town

A Savior borne in Bethlehem shall be in a manger found.”

They hurried off and found in peace the child asleep on straw

They knelt in awed amazement from what they’d heard and saw

And when they left they told their friends about the new borne child

And all who heard their holy tale took comfort for awhile.

For life was hard back then and there, it was uncertain what would be

The Romans ruled with iron fists from across the deep blue sea

Any talk of kings from other lands or references to change

Were dealt with quickly and with force and hence came this arrange.

Three wise men came into the land in answer to the call

To pay homage to the King of Kings, born in the manger stall

When they arrived they went to see King Herod. It was he

Who asked who they were looking for and what they knew, you see.

And when he heard they’d come to find the one whose star had shown

King of the Jews, the Christ child borne, he vowed to make it known

That nothing would become of this, he’d finish it today

Telling them to return with news he sent them on their way.

A Christmas Anthology - Part Five

With child was she as yet unwed, a shameful state to be

But God was with them and her betrothed a dream of faith had he

“Be not afraid to take the woman into your home as wife

For the child within is of the Spirit and through Him you will gain life.”

The holy texts predict this all, they reference these affairs

Not just once but many times down through the many years

How can it be, unless it’s true, these common parts and threads

Of age old books and long told lore from many hearts and heads.

I’ve said before in written form about the trip of birth

From Nazareth to Bethlehem the couple walked the earth

On sandaled feet, they trod the ground from one place to the next

Together walking, hand in hand, in fulfillment of the text

The birth to be in Bethlehem, they did not know the why

Only that the rulers there had made them all comply

To return to where they had been born for census, the decree

Of Caesar simply to be counted where their home was thought to be.

A Christmas Anthology - Part Four

There were fourteen generations with Abram at the start

To David and a kingly rule with God deep in his heart

And another twenty eight then came with various depths of love

For God’s divine countenance, His blessings from above

The anointed one was going to come and emulate a ram

With warlike and rebellious ways. He wouldn’t be a lamb.

A Messiah made of flesh and bone. Immanuel shall fight

And throw off the Roman yoke of rule. He would have the might.

God came to Zechariah and inspired him to seek

His dear old wife Elizabeth and with her not be meek

She became with child, the foretold John, the man to go before

And make way the path for the one called Christ, to open up the door.

Now, six months passed, an angel came to Mary making plans

To wed the good man Joseph, a worker with his hands

The angel said to her with love, Hail Mary full of grace

God favors you ,His child within, He smiles upon your face.

I am afraid was her reply to which the angel said

Worry not, my dear, dear one and rest your weary head

For you’ve been chosen as the one upon which your faith dwells

To be the mother of the Son Most High, the one Immanuel

A Christmas Anthology - Part Three

The Christmas star shown near and far, a most surprising sight

For learned ones who knew the paths of nightly things of light

What’s this? They thought – what does it mean? Is this an omen dire?

Or is it just some foolish thing? A ball of skyward fire?

What’s that you say? A king is borne? Someone to rule the Jews?

That could be bad for us and them. What else is there of news?

Their holy texts foretell this thing? Is that what’s being said?

We’d better check, put out the word, this king is better dead.

Judea was, by all accounts, the land God gave, His ration

For they’d been freed, from slavery bound, to become a godly nation

His covenant, His promise made to provide them of their needs

With land to graze, good water, fruit and soil to sow their seeds.

So there they’d lived, for many years, through times of peace and strife

Many generations came and went and God stayed in their life

King David came, the good king ruled ‘til old age took its toll

Jerusalem he built to be God’s city made of gold

The temple there, so grand and rich, rose regal, high and white

And travelers came from far away to worship at its light

As time went on, God’s people there forgot from whence they’d come

The strife and hardship they’d endured became a silent hum.

This happens too, these days for us, it’s easy to be vain.

We think about the stuff we have, no longer are we sane.

The wants, not needs, the toys, the cars – as if it’s all expected.

We gain the world and lose our souls, God starts to be neglected.

Prophecies foretold the Christ, the child born on that day

They also had foretold the piece King David’s throne would play

Descendant of the great, good king the child would have a link

To rule divinely given, an important piece I think.

A Christmas Anthology - Part Two

In testaments from long ago as we see time to measure

Shepherds tell of God’s own words come to them as treasure

The day will come, you shall not know but it will come, be sure

When God shall walk the earth as man, His wisdom shall be pure

Manger born in Bethlehem, even that part was foreseen

A census sent them to the inn, though borne a Nazarene

The town was full, the count afoot, no place to lay a head.

A stable stall, a mat of straw was Mary’s birthing bed.

As night fell cold and clear and bright, her ordeal was at hand

To culminate the tales long told, a Christ child to the land

Obediently, her husband there, did foster to her needs

The child, though theirs, was not of him, his trust in God exceeds

Our own, for were we called to bow and take his place

Not one of us would likely have his devotion, love – his grace.

The night wore on, the darkness deep, no moon that night was there

The livestock lowed and pawed the ground, instinctively aware

Their warmth they gave, it’s all they had to give the little child

Enough it was, though be it cold, the manger became mild.

Within His mothers arms they watched, a cause for glee and laughter

He squirmed and fed and went to sleep and so did they soon after

And others came, to mark the day as on their knees they fell.

For in the east, a star rose full, a sign Immanuel.

A Christmas Anthology - Part One

There are eight parts to this anthology. It was written in December 2005 in five days. Each time I sat down to write, the words flew from my fingers. This is not of me. I was simply the conduit.

Around the first of Christmas, an angel came to say

A child will come to Bethlehem, a virgin birth this day

Be not afraid, O chosen one, through you our Lord is born

In fulfillment of the ancient words, His star will light the morn

In all the ancient Hebrew texts, a theme runs loud and clear

A Son will come to right the faith, a Son whom we will hear

God’s promise made whole in His own time. For who’s time is it at all?

Do we suppose to make it ours? Do we think God’s that small?

The maker of the earth and stars. Of atoms, quarks and space

The trees, the seas and mountaintops, each special in their place

Do you say, “No, it cannot be.”? It must be myth and fable.

A God that made both you and me would never take the label

Of human being, with faults galore. So glaringly apparent.

A servant born a bastard child? A virgin as a parent?

Wait and see, my doubtful friend, it’s a story told in tales

Of prophecy from early on – from birth to three large nails

And leading up to Christmas morn, this story will continue

It bears retelling every year. God in flesh and bone and sinew.