I am going to use it today.
It's my almost New Year Eve's prayer.
Christmas Eve Prayer
Loving God, Help us remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds,
and worship of the wise men.
Close the door of hate
and open the door of love all over the world.
Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.
Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings,
and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.
May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children,
and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts,
forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake.
Amen.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Ralph Hulett
I wrote this at the end of 2010;
How can we possibly live in world with so much pain and delight?
I suppose we do it because it is what we are called to do.
It is our trek on this earth. This beautiful, exciting, lovable, temporary earth.
We are called to learn God's truth and pass it on.
We do it with gentle and generous spirits.
We do it with forgiveness and compassion.
We do it with love.
Mean it.
Donna Elsie
This is just beautiful, Donna. What a lovely way to usher in a new year.
ReplyDeleteIt is remarkable that beauty and anguish are on either side of us. I am grateful that the Lord is a shepherd and guide. He really does teach us along the way.
ReplyDeleteThis post is lovely - in particular, kindness and gentleness grabbed my focus.
Thanks, Donna!
The Christmas Eve poem touched my heart, but your words from 2010 pierced it a little. I feel teary and sad and hopeful, too. Thanks for sharing these beautiful sentiments.
ReplyDeletexoxo
Mary Z
I am so thankful for your blog. Such peaceful, gentle, wise words are found here. I often stop a few minutes during work to read and so often it sets the pace for the rest of the afternoon. Of course, not to replace the Scripture, but a real-world, nowaday inspiration is such a blessing! Thank you for sharing yourself with us.
ReplyDelete"open the door of love all over the world" this is my hope, too. RLS and Miz Boo, you both say it so well..."we do it with love." Love is my word for 2015. love and prayers, jep
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing these, Donna. I agree with Mary Z: they touched and pierced my heart. God bless you and yours in this new year!
ReplyDeleteDonna,
ReplyDeleteI am so grateful for you and your words. I read all your posts and believe it or not, I comment rather frequently. Unfortunately somehow my comments get deleted when I post and I give up. But today I am going to perservere until I get this posted because you pour your heart out onto this blog and you can hear the crickets chirping. I want you to know that I am sorry that this season of life has been tough - the irony is that the journey has also been beautiful because the truths you have shared in small victories or capturing little things. I thank you for reminding me to seek beauty in the ashes. Hugs to you and yours. Heidi
Oh Heidi, thank you for that very lovely comment!
DeleteIt means so much to me.
Love Donna
I love those deers
ReplyDelete