A Christmas Poem for 2016
Written just for you by The QOE
This is our Christmas greeting for you…you may read it as a statement of faith, or just a funny little story…or both. However you read it, may it brighten your day…and whatever you celebrate, may you know that we wish you joy in it.
On a cold December Sunday night, bright starlight decks the skies,
We enjoy our dogs as they hunker down and watch with innocent eyes.
They take in so much, with intuitive looks…it’s a pity they cannot speak:
And they make us think about creatures of old, as we slide into Christmas week.
There were animals in that far-off time, the night that Christ was born.
They were hunkered down in a stable cold on that long-ago winter morn.
They were high in the hills in the shepherd’s care when angels filled the sky.
They carried Kings who were laden with gifts…..and they must’ve wondered, “Why?”
A legend claims that Mary rode on a donkey to Bethlehem,
For Joseph was summoned to register there, and she went along with him.
Some say the donkey was just made-up….a story for me and you,
But, animals figure so much in life, that I like to think it’s true.
The story says Mary was “great with child,” never the best time to travel.
No place to stay, in the chilly night…seems life’s designed to unravel.
A frazzled man at a final inn announced, “There is just no room….”
But the dust-covered man with a pregnant wife tugged his heart in the gloom.
“There is a stable,” the innkeeper said, and Joseph felt they’d been saved;
It was dry and warm and safe from harm, though hardly much more than a cave.
Joseph led his wife to a bed of straw, and with cattle serene and tame,
Mary gave birth to the Saviour of Earth, and Jesus was His name.
In the rafters birds sang a lullaby to the tiny child that lay,
In the hollow of a manger bed filled with fragrant hay.
Armies of angels announced the news to a hillside of shepherds in shock,
Witnessed by trusting and taciturn eyes in a wooly, curious flock.
The angels told them a Saviour was born, close by, in the neighboring town.
They hustled away to find out where he lay…and filled with awe, bowed down.
A star so bright lit up the night to guide both man and beast,
While three wise Kings in robes and rings followed it from the East.
So there they were, such simple folk, a humble man and his wife;
Numbed by events of cosmic scope in the form of a newborn life.
And, there were the shepherds also, unschooled, yet invited to see
The birth that the angels told them was a Holy Nativity.
Animals witnessed every event on that premier Christmas day:
The angels, the shepherds, the travelling Kings, the baby wrapped up in the hay.
Creatures so moved by the miracles that filled up the earth and sky,
That another miracle happened, though we may not ever know why!
It’s said that somehow the animals talked in the dark of Christmas Eve,
And that each Christmas, they speak again…..that is, if you care to believe.
I like to imagine they’ve handed it down…that story…..each one to each;
Making the most of those moments few, when given the gift of speech.
They may know the story best, because they were so near it,
But only the innocent, faithful and true are lucky enough to hear it.
On this cold December Christmas Eve, as moon and stars climb higher,
Recall that ancient story as you hunker beside the fire.
Regard farm animals and pets as we slide toward Christmas day.
Treat them lovingly, with respect, for you never know what they’ll say.
There are baa’s and moo’s, hee-haw’s and coo’s, plus oinks and chickens squawking;
But, if we don’t believe come Christmas Eve, there won’t be any talking.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with passion, purpose and peace.
Love and Best Wishes!