The Precious Gift

How can I express the love

That fills my heart on Christmas day?

I thank my gracious Lord above

For sending Jesus on His way.

This precious gift he gave to us

On Christmas Day so long ago

Without a fanfare or a fuss

Except to those he chose to show.

Yet that extra special gift

Gave the whole wide world a lift.

All was changed upon that day

For all our debts he chose to pay.

He sent us love and peace galore

So I will praise him evermore!

Midnight

My favourite service of the year starts on Christmas Eve

It just seems to fortify all that I believe.

The carols lift the rafters and the church is filled with joy

And the world is filled with love, the kind that does not cloy.

It is the night we celebrate the birth of our dear Lord

And as the time approaches we hush with one accord.

Then as the clock strikes midnight we almost give a cheer

For it is now we feel again the holy babe is here.

The busyness of Christmas seems to evaporate

And we are all rejoicing even though it’s late!

We share in sweet communion the first of Christmas Day

And filled afresh with fervent zeal we go upon our way.

Birthday Scenes

There were no lovely Christmas trees, or fairy lights, or snow

When our blessed saviour came all those years ago.

Stables were not squeaky clean for muck was all around

Droppings mixed with straw and gore together on the ground.

Our pictures of the Christmas scene may not be quite correct

Mind you, they are accurate at least in one respect!

They have, right at the centre, a little baby boy

Who came to save all nations and fill the world with joy.

No matter that the images are sanitised and twee

They concentrate on Jesus and what he means to you and me!

Shepherds may have left their sheep and travelled to his stall

And Magi may have left their gifts because they were in thrall.

But none of this can alter the very simple fact

That at that time and in that place God was seen to act.

He sent His only Son to us, to live with human kind

A gracious and a wondrous gift – enough to blow my mind!

No wonder that we celebrate filled with awe and love

And sing our thanks and praises to our God above.

For He sent us peace on earth if only we would hear

The love that’s all around us amongst this Christmas cheer!

Presents

I hate Christmas shopping, never knowing what to get.

Should it be a raincoat to stop them getting wet?

Or what about some slippers or a nice sarong?

If I make my mind up I might just get it wrong!

Could I be the only one who can’t make up his mind,

Or are there many others who don’t know what to find?

In the end I will pick something and then just wait and see

Hoping if I think it good the recipient will agree!

The magi gave their presents to show their high esteem

For one whose natal star they saw and followed in a dream.

Do we take the trouble and strive with might and main

So we can give our presents in a somewhat similar vein?

All this time and money giving things we do not need

Does this not just pander to our incipient greed?

Would it not be better if we gave to help the needy

Rather than indulging kin who are well fed and greedy?

Snug Within Our Fellowship

Snug within our fellowship we sing to God above

How He came to join us and share His peace and love.

Do we not see the pestilence the famine and the pain,

Which devastate the multitudes while some men stand to gain?

Do we not see the strife and war that have a strangle-hold

Where warlords are determined to have their piece of gold?

Sure we mutter platitudes and give a groat or two,

After all we’re far away! What else can we do?

Snug within our fellowship we sing to God above

Did He not command us to share His peace and love?

Snug within our fellowship we sing to God above

How He came to join us and share His peace and love.

Do we not see the joblessness and people sleeping rough,

While we sit in our houses and, plainly, have enough?

Do we not see the people with their benefits cut off,

While politicians squabble with their noses in the trough?

Yet when the elections come we vote them in once more

For some of us are lazy, and voting’s such a chore!

Snug within our fellowship we sing to God above

Did He not command us to share His peace and love?

Snug within our fellowship we sing to God above

How He came to join us and share His peace and love.

Do we not see the widows and the orphans going short?

Women left by husbands seeking justice through the court?

Kids abused by fathers and husbands who hit wives?

All of them within our towns live desolated lives!

We bring our cans each Sunday to the free food bank.

To puncture our complacency would take a Sherman tank!

Snug within our fellowship we sing to God above

Did He not command us to share His peace and love?

Snug within our fellowship I sing to God above

How He came to join us and share His peace and love.

I see all these tragedies and things that need to change

And yet I still do nothing and doesn’t that seem strange?

I proffer pompous platitudes and mealy-mouthed disgust.

Isn’t that a contrast with the God in whom we trust?

I have no excuses. I can’t say I didn’t know.

I really must do better. I pray my heart will grow!

Snug within our fellowship I sing to God above

But, did he not command me to share His peace and love?

Carols

I love the sounds of Christmas, of carols in the snow,

That’s what I remember from my childhood long ago.

In our church the other day I watched a young girl singing

Joy and wonder in her face as her voice was ringing.

She sang an ageless carol – “Away in a Manger”

Though without the “Thee”s and “Thou”s it sounds a little stranger!

“O Little Town of Bethlehem”, had followed “Silent Night”

And our little church seemed filled with Your glorious light!

As I sing these carols and others I know well

I am caught, as in my youth, in a wondrous spell.

The world is full of magic and angels hover near

Everyone is happy and there is naught to fear!

Lord, I love to celebrate your coming to this earth

Those carols being sung by me for all that I am worth.

Keep me ever faithful and keep me ever true

Focussed on the Lord my God, whom I find in You   

Prayer

“More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”

To quote the favourite poet of my youth

I sat enthralled upon my mother’s knee

And listened to this everlasting truth

And knew that it was always meant to be!

We see so many things that need amending

And end up somehow standing helpless by

Perhaps we have forgot our prayers ascending

To the Lord almighty up on high.

When we can see no instantaneous changes

Our faith can sometimes get some mighty shakes

But God who made the mighty mountain ranges

We still can trust to do whate’er it takes.

When we think of prayer in both directions

And listen to Your voice whene’er we pray,

Instead of asking lots of pleading questions,

We could maybe do the things You say   

I pray that as we celebrate your coming,

And hope we’re ready when you come again,

That we will hear Your clear recruitment drumming

And help to ease the world from chronic pain.

Help!

I look around the world you made and all the shattered lives,

At men who yearn for safety for their children and their wives!

The sight of devastation and people without food

Is enough to spoil my appetite, so I’m not feeling good!

Even in our back yard people have no jobs or money

And others have no hope and seem to live with little honey.

People sleep in doorways and others live on drugs

While rich men in their limousines just go by with shrugs.

All of this resulting from man’s selfishness and greed

For you to sort the whole mess out, we can only plead.

We celebrate your coming all those years ago

But when you’re due to come again we can never know.

For now we have to wait for You and do the best we can

Though all these many problems are beyond the means of man!

But Lord we know Your majesty, Your compassion and Your power

Be with us, Your people, throughout this desperate hour.

  

Christmas Limericks

Caesar had sent out an order

To every census recorder

People should roam

To their ancestral home,

Even if over the border.

So Joseph set out with Mary

Though the journey was scary.

Mary’s baby was due

But what could they do?

For of Romans they had to be wary!

Bethlehem was in Judea

And Joseph had an idea!

Mary could sit on the ass

Over each mountain pass

And very soon they would be there

When Mary and Joseph got there

They found there was no room to spare

So they went to the stable

As fast as they’re able

For You were their only true care

You were born in filth and in mire

In a ramshackle Bethlehem byre

But I know Your true worth

You’re the Lord of the earth

And to worship You is my desire

Positive

“Don’t do this and don’t do that”, is what I now get told.

Just because I’ve had a stroke, I can not be bold!

It makes me mad when negatives are all I seem to get

Why can’t they be more positive before I get upset!

That seems to me the difference between AD and BC.

And perhaps in advent that’s what we ought to see!

Moses rules were all concerned with saying, “Thou shall not”,

Yet there were some positives, which Christ was quick to spot.

“Love the Lord your God”, he said, “and your neighbour too”.

That at least gives some things that we ought to do!

Perhaps if people told me what can be permitted

I’d not rebel so much and might be more committed.

Mind you, if I’m honest, I’d still want to do more

But perhaps there’s other things I ought to explore.

Don’t just tell me not to. I won’t stay in bed

Why not give me something I could do instead! 

Christmas Cards

I’ve been writing Christmas cards for hours, and hours, on end.

Some of them to relatives and some of them to friends.

Most of them will be received with very little glee

By people who have done this task as sketchily as me!

Ok, I’ve sent a news-sheet to those who might just care

But the effect of this on others is to make them tear their hair!

The simple Christmas wishes that we give to everyone

Have somehow lost their meaning before the seasons done.

To write a Christmas card for those we give it to by hand

Is really rather difficult for me to understand.

We wish them Merry Christmas as we give the Christmas card

To do without the written word would not be too hard.

And yet we still will swap our cards for every one we get,

Not to give them greetings but, in case they are upset!

Think of all the money that is wasted in this way!

I wonder what you think our gracious Lord would have to say?

Could that money not be spent in better ways than this?

In help for those less fortunate to share some of our bliss?

Waiting

Waiting, waiting, waiting! That’s all I seem to do.

And I’ll still be waiting when my life is through.

I have to wait for someone to drive me anywhere.

I have to wait in surgeries for doctor’s gentle care.

I have to wait in A&E for hours and hours on end.

Even though this waiting drives me round the bend!

I have to wait for ages while my darling wife gets ready.

That’s no change! I had to wait when we were going steady!

I have to wait in shopping queues to pay for what I’ve bought.

I have to wait so patiently for that’s what I’ve been taught!

I have to wait my turn to speak at early morning prayers

I have to wait to catch my breath before attempting stairs!

It is so frustrating that I always have to wait

For I have a fixation about never being late.

We all know that in Advent we await our Lord’s return

But somehow in the meantime we have a lot to learn!

The early church thought Christ would come almost straight away

And yet we have been waiting to this very day!

Of course it does not matter just when that day may be

We’ve been told that we should act as if our Lord could see.

We don’t need to wait for Him to build His kingdom here

If we would only do His work without unworthy fear!

So show His love to everyone and not just those you know

And we won’t have to wait to see His kingdom grow.

Parents

We know the advent story very, very well

But there is a part of it I feel that I must tell!

Mary had a mother and a father I suppose

But how they both reacted nobody now knows!

You have taught your daughter all she ought to do

Now you find she’s pregnant, right out of the blue!

The penalty for such unwedded sex is most severe.

It could be a stoning for the one you hold so dear?

Of course you’d like to hush it up and find the guilty man

And have them swiftly married. You’d do all you can.

Naturally you’d think that her betrothed has had his way

But when you find that he has not, your anger might hold sway!

Your daughter has betrayed your trust and had another love

And she tells you she’s conceived with the Spirit from above!

I wouldn’t for a minute suspect she was believed

And her loving parents must have felt aggrieved!

That is when they packed her off to stay with distant kin

So their neighbours would not know the pickle she was in!

Imagine their relief when Joseph did the decent thing

And covered their embarrassment with a wedding ring.

Some may have suspected that a shotgun had been used

And religious sticklers would not have been amused.

Did this create some problems when Christ returned to preach?

Did they use such ancient scandal in order to impeach?

Certainly they chased him from among their congregation

Leaving him to wander throughout the Hebrew nation!

But this was in the future and her parents would not know

As they, in the background, recovered from this blow.

They had done their loving best for Mary as she grew

And still in her predicament did all that they could do.

Lord, let us as parents surrender to your will

But still protect our children from every form of ill.

Nelson Mandela

A man who was so filled with love he healed a nation’s ills

Though he himself had had to deal with lots of bitter pills.

He was all forgiving to those who did him wrong

And reconciliation was his freedom song.

He lived what he believed in and would not try for less

Though the place he lived in was a brutal mess.

The regime was based on bigotry and racial prejudice

Mandela felt, quite rightly, he could not live with this.

He stood for true equality and all the rights of man

And did as much as any decent human being can.

He paid for his devotion, reviled by those who hate,

And many years in prison was to be his fate.

Yet he walked to freedom still a man of love

Steadfast in his mission for our Lord above.

He swept away apartheid and all its bitter bile

And walked with all his people for many a weary mile.

He seemed to see no black or white only God’s creation

And by his love created a true united nation.

So let us thank you Jesus for a man who gave his all

And by his great example holds us all in thrall!

The advent of South Africa a free and pleasant land

Is due to a most modest man who followed your command:

Love the Lord with all your heart and always try to labour

To show this love to everyone, for each man is your neighbour!  

Family

A party with the family is really lots of fun

It is a time to meet and greet and talk to everyone.

However, the cacophony when everybody talks

Is enough to make you wish you’d gone on quiet walks!

I know that they’re all happy and I’d really like to stay

But sometimes when my brain is tired I have to get away.

The blessing of this solitude when I’ve gone to my room

Is that I can sit quiet and pray away my gloom.

Oh, God I’d like to thank you for the family I hold dear

And thank you more especially that we meet just once a year!

I love them all most dearly and I pray they all succeed

And that they get the things they want as well as all they need.

Of course we have our troubles and, sometimes, even fight

But give us peace and harmony and let us see the light.

Families have always been the same throughout the years

Sharing their rejoicing, their sorrow and their tears!

Long ago it was the same when Mary was with child

Some would have supported and some would have been wild!

They sent her to the country out of harms way

To one of their relatives for an extended stay.

God had said to Mary, to prove what she’d been told.

Elizabeth would have a child though she was far too old!

She had had a word as well of Mary’s high esteem

That she carried the Messiah was told her in a dream.

As she espied her cousin approaching in the gloom

The baby boy she carried leapt within her womb.

Mary now was certain that her purpose was divine

For her cousin’s pregnancy was a clinching sign!

Joy now filled her boson and she sang her song of praise,

In words that have been cherished through each succeeding age.

Lord let me sing your praises for all that you have done

And for my well loved family, every single one!

Thoughts from the Scanner

Strapped within a scanner with ear plugs in my ears

Eyes are closed so I avoid my claustrophobic fears.

Noise is all around me and the machine seems to vibrate

It seems the sum of everything I am designed to hate.

I’m there for twenty minutes and keeping very still

Stuck together with my thoughts so I can think my fill!

I know I’ve had a minor stroke, which isn’t very good

So why should I be feeling in such a happy mood?

I had a well man check up about a month ago

And refused to go on Statins when the doctor told me so.

With the state of my Cholesterol the chance was one in three

To have a stroke or heart attack might be the fate for me!

Of course I’ve heard of side effects when Statins are employed

And those were things I seemed to think I really must avoid!

I could reduce my readings by eating oily fish

And cutting out cholesterol in almost every dish.

That just shows how much I know! Doctors can be right!

This is a gentle warning and I have seen the light!

I’ll take the tablets I’m prescribed and do what I am told

For it is certain if I don’t my wife is sure to scold!

When Mary met Elizabeth and heard her stirring tale

It just confirmed within her heart that everything was real.

Now she knew for certain that she carried the Messiah

Now she could at last rejoice and send her praises higher.

I know now that my forte is for being rather dense

So Lord I’d like to thank You for making me see sense!

Obedience

Sitting in the hospital not knowing what’s to come

Is nearly as unnerving as becoming a new mum!

Of course they have the prospect of a child to love.

A glorious little miracle sent from God above.

I upon the other hand have almost no idea

Except that when it’s over the causes may be clear!

Will there be a remedy? I haven’t got a clue,

But I know my Saviour will somehow see me through!

Of course I might be tempted to try to say, “Why me?”

Just as Mary might have done in early 0 BC!

Lord just let me meet in peace whatever may transpire

As long as You are with me I can do what You desire!

Joseph

There was a man called Joseph preparing to be wed

Told his girl was pregnant when they’d never been to bed!

He must have been disgusted and filled with righteous rage.

It would have been impossible for him to turn the page

He could not ignore the fact that he had been betrayed

He ought to cast his girlfriend out. Her guilt to all displayed!

He knew he ought to do what’s right and cast his love aside

Yet his love for Mary meant that he might let her hide.

As he pondered on his fix late one summer night

An angel came into his room and gave him such a fright!

He was told his love was true and had not gone astray

To meet God’s divine purpose there was no other way!

He should go ahead and marry her and should not be afraid

Though the lass was pregnant she was still a maid!

He must have been convincing for Joseph took his word

Though in any logic the thing was quite absurd!

He loved and cared for Mary through all her birthing pain

And catered for her firstborn child though he had naught to gain.

After our dear Lord was born they had children of their own

And kept his secret in their hearts as no one else had known!

Would I could be as faithful as that carpenter of old

Hearing God’s true message and doing what it told! 

Support

If you were very pregnant the last thing you would do

Would be to take a donkey ride just to see the view!

Peasants were not pampered like Western women are

They didn’t have the luxury of travelling by car.

I know we’ve all heard stories of girls in paddy fields

Having babies while at work, to not reduce the yields!

But travelling for miles and miles on dusty mountain tracks

Upon a beast of burden while Joseph humped the packs!

I’m sure the poor man did his best to try to ease her pain,

As she was jerked and jostled, along that mountain lane.

Men can not imagine what women have to bear

And the best that we can do is to show we care.

We can never ease the pain but merely hold their hand

And whisper quiet words of love that they will understand.

It’s very like the way the Lord is with us when we pray,

He’s with us in our misery, though it won’t go away!

Patience

Anyone who knows me knows how restless I can be

With very little patience, as anyone can see!

I have not been driving for an endless year.

Today was going to be the day you motorists should fear!

I had got my licence back dated from today

With no more epileptic fits I was on my way!

Then, without a warning, I found I couldn’t see

My balance meant I couldn’t move, at least not properly.

Hours within the doctors’ and then in A&E,

Overnight in hospital, no chance of being free!

It seems that for my driving I will have to wait,

Maybe learning patience has to be my fate!

I am fed up waiting after all this time,

Enough to make a poet turn his thoughts to rhyme!

In this time of advent, as we wait for our dear Lord,

We must know that patience is its own reward.

As Mary waited for his birth the time would seem to crawl,

Though all the time she carried the Saviour of us all!

The Jews have waited ages for this great event,

Perhaps His second coming might bring them their content.

Still we know that waiting will increase our joy

Even more than getting that longed for Christmas toy!

Things

The meaning of this time of year

Is all about our Lord

Though this may not be quite clear

As we try with one accord

To scrabble round each store

To make the cash points ring

And always wanting even more

To buy each other lots of things.

Contrast this with Jesus birth

In pain and poverty

Of having nothing much of worth

Nor seeking charity

Yet serving all around with mirth

That is the way to be!

The Decision

Spare a thought for Mary lying in her bed,

Thoughts about her wedding floating round her head,

Accosted by an angel and shocked by what he said.

I bet that she would rather be somewhere else instead.

How could she be pregnant? She’d led a sheltered life!

And she was still a virgin, soon to be a wife.

If this startling news were true she’d be in for strife.

The implications in her gut were twisting like a knife.

Some would say that Joseph had overstepped the mark

Or she had just enticed him one evening after dark.

Perhaps they both had just been kicking up a lark.

In any case the future was looking harsh and stark!

But Joseph had not lain with her. It would be a blow!

Who she had betrayed him with, he would want to know.

He would be disgusted and he would tell her so.

She knew that she’d be treated as the lowest of the low!

And if he did not marry her, she would be distraught

She could well be ostracised for not doing what she ought.

Adulterers were stoned to death, or so she had been taught

In any case her future was likely to be fraught!

This stunning news could only be a very bitter pill!

And yet she knew for certain that this was Yahweh’s will

Deep within her loving heart she could now be still!

To be her Makers chosen one had to be a thrill.

We will never know if she could have refused the role.

That God allows us our free will I know within my soul,

So I believe she had that choice and that it took its toll.

And for that brave decision she deserves the winner’s bowl.

So give a cheer for Mary, the bravest of the brave

For her freewill decision – not the actions of a slave

A slice of her true gumption is all that I can crave

To follow God’s intentions from the cradle to the grave.

Advent

I thought this year for Advent I might not do worse

Than mark each day throughout this time with a different verse!

Preparing for the coming of the King of all the Earth

Has got to be the sort of poems that have to be of worth.

We can look back to our Saviour born within a stable

The sort of thing we like to see on film or on cable!

Of course we know it was amongst the muck and filth and grime

Not picture postcard perfect like this, our Christmas time!

We do not see the pain there was or hear the snide remarks

About unmarried couples kicking up some larks!

It must have been horrendous according to report

Joseph must have been a saint to give her his support!

And yet this led to victory for all of humankind

It is enough to cause us all to really blow our mind!

Then of course we have to think about his second coming

Suffice to say that ought to get this little planet humming!