December 12, 2005
-
This Season
While wind and snow blow over northern lands
And sun-heat strokes the palms and desert sands
O’er all the world in dry or tropic clime
Now humans mark this season sacred time:
Recount a gift of countless worth;
A priceless treasure held in clay.
Retell a King’s ignoble birth;
The child and man who showed the way
To reach the stars;
To live with Him
Who sent a child
to Bethlehem
To live and love
(and die in pain)
As God in man,
and so to gain
The prize which Adam’s child had lost
To pay in blood unnumbered cost.
******************
Yet now we pause to hold the sight
Of mother, babe, and holy night.
To wonder at this God so small;
So humbly nested in the stall.
‘mid beast and earth and man and straw -
What marvel there the magi saw!
The King they sought; yet not a king,
A child who made the angels sing!
The Infinite in cloth and hay
Who lived, and died, and lives today,
And bids us come with child-wide eyes
And in Him see where heaven lies.
© copyright 2005 James Smallish
– jim
*************
Enjoy this season of wonder
Jim
(Here’s the link to the background music for those of you for whom that file won’t open ; just minimize the screen that opens)
http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/emicmg/sparrow/shawnmcdonald/o_holy_night.wax
Comments (16)
I like the sheep picture. I too have been fighting with my computer and router all day.I got to talk to the help desk (in India) for half an hour in which they appeared to cure the problem only to have it start again. I have restarted and unpluged and stood on my head behind the silly machine enough for one day though.Tommorow is another day…and I Can live with out the internet….Our daughter comes home Friday and Our son graduates from College Saturday! w00t w00t!
Hey Jim, that’s a nice post. And I live this arrangement of O Holy Night, one of my favorites of this Season. Who is that singing?
I can’t believe I wrote “I live this arrangement…” I meant I like this arrangement. Hehehe. I guess maybe I live it, too, somehow.
Hi Jim, thanks for stopping by! Ya, my husband is from Ardian and loves the Wolverians!! We usually get back there aroun Thanksgiving…not this year, too much going on! Hey, I read you like mission trips. We are leaving on one January 1st to Cambodia, a medical/feeding missions trip…whatta ya know, sounds like it is right up your alley! It is with Manna World Wide, they have a web site if you’re interested in checking them out! Nice site…stop by any time! God Bless =)
Christ is the Lord! O Praise His Name forever! His Pow’r and Glory ever more proclaim! His Pow’r and Golry Ever more proclaim!!!! O Holy Night is my favorite Christmas song of all time! You should know that I am in a computer Lab with a bunch of college students studying for finals, and it is all I can do to keep from singing and shouting this song in praise for the Gift!!
Two more props for the poem. I Love it. I have yet to write one for Christmas. I’ll probably post the story. I think John starts it out perfectly. You have done well! and nice link to BibleGateway! I like that too!
Thanks for coming by! I can’t say O Holy Night is my favorite, because I have so many favorites: O Holy Night, O Little Town of Bethlehem, I Wonder as I Wander, Ave Maria – I think O Holy Night is really right up there at the top along with O Holy Night and O Little Town of Bethlehem.
I’m keeping it very simple this year. Haven’t watched any Christmas shows, haven’t listened to Christmas music. Just waiting for that time that always comes between Christmas Eve and Christmas night – when the world around me seems wrapped in the awesome stillness of eternity, all creation holding its breath, waiting for God to exhale. This is the gift from God I look for every year – that place where I know I’m in His presence, surrounded by the Holy Hush of eternity.
Deb…That’s Shawn McDonald….don’t know much about him. Actually first listened to alink to one of his songs,thinking he was a wonderfully-voiced choir director who has the same name, at my church (he’s not). I really like his voice, too.
ducky…WAY too cool about your trip to Cambodia…the helping-type mission trips are my favorite, although I’ve never travelled farther than Nicaragua. I’m going on a home-building trip to Mexico in Feb. I am, indeed, interested in Manna World Wide…I’ll be checking them out.
Steven (cowboy)…thanks…You and the others answered a question I was wondering about, regarding the music. It wouldn’t launch/play on a computer @ my son’s house, and I wondered if it came up for others. How sweet to connect with God like that, at work!
Breath….thanks and you’re welcome, although it’s really a treat for me to stop by your site…always good there. You are such a poet at heart! I love the way you word things…
“ when the world around me seems wrapped in the awesome stillness of eternity, all creation holding its breath, waiting for God to exhale. This is the gift from God I look for every year – that place where I know I’m in His presence, surrounded by the Holy Hush of eternity. “….I am not only in agreement about the thought (I also have that same sense about that time), but I’m savoring the feeling lent by your statement…thanks!
I really enjoyed that. Very well versed.
Pleased to meet you Jim. Thanks for stopping by my site. I’m Steve’s soon to be mother in law.
Be blessed always
“‘But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.’” I John
I don’t think I have ever looked at this verse, in I John, that you included in your comment as I am now. When we do not love our brother we are blinded. Perhaps when we are aware that we are not loving it is good to pray, asking that we might see again. What I’m learning is that I am the prodigal son, the one who did nothing but dishonored the Father and came back home with nothing to gain love and respect with. Yet, the love of the Father is unchanging, and He runs toward me, so overwhelmed to be with me once again. I want to love the brethren in that way~ as I have been loved.
I’ve actually been to this entry several times, but it keeps pressuring me to download some additional components to my RealPlayer before it will display properly. Before, it has always hung up on me and nothing short of doing the Ctrl-Alt-Delete remedy to call up the task manager and shut down the window would stop it. This time, as you can see, I was able just to cancel it out without incident. (On somebody else’s Xanga recently I actually tired downloading these “additional components”–whatever those are–but they didn’t install or something: I’ve forgotten now.)
Anyway, the Advent Season has long been one of my favorite times of year, though I think the busyness that often goes with it has taken some of the “oomph” out of it in recent years. Still, the carols of Christmas inspire me like no other and there is much to be treasured during this time of year.
I too have visited several times, but today is the first time in a week I’ve been awake and relaxed enough to read it through. (three double shifts in the past week).
This really is a beautiful poem. I didn’t download the extra components, so I haven’t heard the music. But the poem is really nice.
Eric; thanks…I was wondering if others were having that problem. I hope the link to the song which I’ve placed below works for those with this problem.
Breath_Of_Dawn..thanks for your kind appraisal …If your browser is telling you that you need an upgrade to run RealPlayer…don’t bother. That’s the same problem others have had, and when the download is attempted, the response is “no upgrade is available”….that’s why I put the clickable link @ the bottom. If that doesn’t work I currently have no solution (but I’m working on learning about this)
thanx so much for this poem. helps to put everything into perspective this time of year. May the joy that you find in the Savoir reflect on your face this Christmas season.
I googled my pen name and look what I found!!! You quoting my poetry–”Gather Me” by Katriel Bat Emet!! Not only that, but you gave me credit and linked back to my site — You made my night!! Thank you…
Wish I could tell you how depressed I’ve been with losing my stepfather and my husband can’t return to America without facing criminal charges that he’s totally innocent of — but to know that my poetry is inspiring someone else… I think I’m gonna cry…
Do you have a fictionpress site??? If so, under what name?
-Katie (Where did you link to Oh night Divine??? I love that song…)
Hey– thanks for leaving a note on my site.
If you want to use the article — please post the sources. I actually merged the information from those three sites and didn’t rewrite too much of it.
To the Season of Miracles…
-Katie
Thanks for sharing the poem. It speaks volumes, yet in a gentle whisper.