Hope; not like the morning's gold...
-to-red horizon flare...
...before it is tucked in a gray envelope of air
Snow-dusted, star-frosted; nature entrances
Hope is replenished in spite of its ways
Darling, a montage of footfalls and dances
Bears us from ballrooms of lost yesterdays
December dazzles the dark with 'skewed spangles
December tugs at our hearts with time’s toll
December hugs us then twirls us, then dangles
Echoes and dreams in an epic drum-roll
Darling, the days of a year near completion
Emptiness vies with fulfillment in it
Leaving us clinging to lifeline’s from Heaven
Hope without God is
a bottomless pit
December is like a Door to Hereafter
Like embers dying on hearths of cold earth
Darling, December is longing and laughter
Groping the walls leading to Hope’s re-birth
Ethereal exodus from Despair's danger
Hearts flock to Bethlehem there to behold
In humble worship, the Babe in the manger
Where hope's glad tidings will never grow old
Holy, the heart’s hallelujah soft-trembles
Mercy excites man’s half-sights with God’s love
Fixing Faith’s Substance sustaining Hope’s candle
On Divine Evidence no one can prove
© Janet Martin
When we linger in each line of this Story(put ourselves right there)
We too can feel a rush of Hope's 'Glory to God in the highest',
just like the shepherds in days of old, because let's face it
...we all want a little more than fa-la-la-la-la fading into thin air!
Luke 2:1-20
And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed [a]wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a [b]manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Glory in the Highest
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And [c]behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a [d]manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
15 So
it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the
shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this
thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made [f]widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
