The Presence Of Love

From "The Shack" - 'He is especially fond of you'.

We don't choose the gifts that we have been given,

Any more than we want those we love to choose the gifts we give them,  We hope that we know that person well enough to choose something that they will appreciate.

It is up to us to choose to say thank you for those gifts,

And we do that as we hope our loved ones will do:

by welcoming them with joy, opening them up excitedly, and finding out how to use them; Then, with a huge smile,  in  sharing them with others.

And that's what our Father rejoices in;  Don't rain on God's parade!

When life presses down hard,

When your spirit's been scarred,

And you're left feeling scared and alone ,

Just leave it all there,

Leave that weight to His care,

For He's only one teardrop away;

There's a hand on your shoulder,

A kiss on your forehead;

You are held in the grip of His love;

He raises you up,

And enfolds you so dearly,

Touches your heart,

And lets you know clearly

That you are totally precious today.

There's a tiny child in each of us,

Feeling lost and incomplete,

Though our original hearts  are still intact,

Irreplaceable pulses  in God's heartbeat,

We still keep trying way too hard

To be all that we can be,

Not realizing that we already are;

And that God is especially fond of us!

A Visit From My Christmas Spirit

  

At such a joyous time of year,

My Christmas spirit's in low gear -

I'm putting too much octane

In my tank of busyness;

Instead of looking 'round to see

The beauty that's surrounding me,

My eyes keep looking inward

Focusing on my own mess.

The Spirit, longing to impart

Its gift of hope to lift my heart,

I seem to have wrapped up and left

beneath the Christmas tree;

This precious gift that can't be bought

Should not be left to afterthought,

But opened first and shared a lot

With friends and family. 

As I pay it more attention,

Pause, and take time for reflection,

It is growing, speeding up,

Approaching second gear;

I'm heeding now its hopeful voice,

Speaking of a wiser choice:

To take each moment that I'm given

And spend it well this year.

          "If I could make you smile,

            For just a little while,

            It would give me such a lift

            To help you find

            Your forward shift

            That would be the perfect gift,

            One that we could open together,

            No ribbon to untie."

Welcome Christmas!

Christmas has spread its wings and is soaring towards us - How wonderful!  It is wearing its finest garments - feathers of magnificent colours and textures; in its voice, a multitude of songs - of every note and nationality.  Love adorns its eyes as it sings in flight to meet us.   Hope fills its heart and bursts forth in hymns of peace on earth.  Let us welcome this beautiful, fragile guest with care; prepare our homes generously - put aside our dingy garbs of doubt and skepticism and dress ourselves in the beautiful love that is within us. 

 We all know the wonderful feeling of watching others opening gifts that we have given them, chosen with love; of seeing them benefiting from and using those gifts with joy and excitement!    Let us take a close look at how we have used our own gifts - those that the spirit of Christmas has given us and waits expectantly for us to open, time and again.  Have we recognized the great love that went into choosing them, or will Christmas arrive and find its gifts unopened and unappreciated, when the world is so much in need of our sharing? 

As Christmas draws close to us, it is a confidant to all of our hearts' true desires.  Let us open our hearts and trust that the unique gifts that Christmas brings to each of us are the most fantastic gifts that we have ever been given.  Let us take great joy in opening them and recognizing those riches: building blocks for hope, love and peace.   Then let us open our arms and truly welcome Christmas.