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Saturday, December 25, 2004

Excerpt from "The Holy Bible"Book of Luke
Chapter 2

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;
(As it is written in the law of the LORD, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)
And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.
And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.
And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet the words repeat,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had roll'd along th' unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bow'd my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

'Til ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

~Longfellow


~~~~~~~~~

Last year, DSS was 11. He went to his father and said "Daddy, I know I'm too old to believe in Santa Claus, but I'm gonna do it for a little longer, okay?" You can't get much sweeter than that.

It was the first year that GB and I lived together, DSS and I were still adjusting to our "someone else will take up GB's time" weekends. So Christmas was a little chaotic. He wanted to spend it with him mom, he wanted to spend it with his dad, I wanted to spend it with my family... We decided that DSS would spend Christmas Eve with his mom, wake up there, and then GB would pick him up and take him to my grandparents, my own family tradition. Later in the evening we would have a smaller Christmas at my parents where my brother (who is a minister and works most Christmas Days) could join us. Sort of a Maryland tour of Christmases (Christmai?).

In the chaos of the tour, one of DSS's gifts got left behind at our house. Must have fallen out of arms as we were caring things around. In any event, when we finally got back to the house at the end of the night, DSS walked in and saw it on the couch. It was one we'd signed "from Santa."

"What's this?" he asked.

"Um... looks like a gift for you... but who's it from?"

"Says Santa"

"Hmmm... maybe Santa wasn't sure of your plans - cuz we were in so many different places today. Maybe he just wanted to be sure you got a gift everywhere, since you were so good."

He opened it. Inside was a small toy he'd seen when we were out, and had thought was fun. He sat on the couch, an unreadable expression on his face. My stomach sank - I knew we'd been busted. His determination to believe in Santa had been blown because we couldn't take one final sweep.

Feeling a little queasy and disappointed, I started down the hall... but what I heard behind me made tears come to my eyes.

It was DSS, quietly singing to himself, "He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake..."

6 Comments:

Blogger vi said...

morning sweetie
happy holidays
and I just saw, your anniversary is next week isn't it???
I liked the story about your DSS, that was very sweet.
vi
who finally got Bob the cat to reconsider his postion on vi as the anti-christ......for the moment

9:45 AM  
Blogger Larry said...

Thanks for the beautiful post, Amie. It's been too many years since I read that. I'm a kid again. Well, that's a bit of a stretch. Anyway, Merry Christmas to you and yours. And naturally a Happy New Year.

10:43 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Beautiful stories, both. Thanks, Amie. And a beautiful Christmas to you and the family...
caroline
aka fiberTribe

12:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas, Amie. Loved the story of DSS and Christmas. Enjoy. Linda-gail

1:07 PM  
Blogger Agnes said...

Hi Amie, thanks for sharing your story about DSS. I think the adults have tried their best ... well, things happen. So, you don't have to feel too bad about it.
Merry Christmas.

5:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

awww. that was too sweet. they don't stay little long enough, do they?
Minnie aka Dragonmom on KR

9:46 PM  

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