Christmas Eve
i.
So many angels fill the evening sky,
So many shepherds herding so few sheep
And more wise men than an academy,
But only one new baby, fast asleep!
Such treasured childhood memories are passed on
But are they more than sentimental show?
Only God knows what his own son has done
But it is more than human mind can know.
ii.
When the day is over
And the candles flicker
And the fire grows warmer
And the snow falls thicker,
She says:
"Think of your places reversed, my dear
You out there, the rough sleeper in here!"
iii.
When books are closed and grave thoughts fled,
The lights put out, the beckoning bed,
An image halts my wary tread:
A baby in a cattle shed.
He may be in a Trinity,
A brave trope of theology,
But what counts more is what I see,
God in a child of flesh like me.
I feel the prickling of the straw,
The roughness of the earthen floor,
Wind threading through the flimsy door,
But do not know how to be poor:
And wish I loved a little more.
Jesus, here is a little prayer,
As I approach the nightly stair,
Help me to care as I should care;
I think I might now you are here.