Showing posts with label Christmas Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas Day. Show all posts

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Sharing our common humanity


Feliz Navidad, Milad Majid, Joyeux Noel,
Buone Feste Natalizie, Hristos se rodi,
Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan.
Merry Christmas comes in many languages.


An introduction: I enjoy sharing messages with my friends that combine sacred thought with secular wisdom. I think that the two play well together. There are so many different things that can tie together a good message about our faith, love and hope in God. And, there are plenty of good messages that are worth sharing. Sometimes, it just takes moving in the slow lane of life, observing, and enjoying the journey.

Today, I would like to share a Christmas Day poem by the 19th-century Scottish poet and essayist Robert Louis Stevenson reflecting our common humanity.

A Prayer for Christmas Morning
By Robert Louis Stevenson

The day of joy returns, Father in Heaven, and
crowns another year with peace and good will.
Help us rightly to remember the birth of Jesus, that
we may share in the song of the angels, the 
gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the
wise men.

Close the doors of hate and open the doors 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 that Christ
brings, and teach us to be merry with clean hearts.

May the Christmas morning make us happy to 
be thy children.

And the Christmas evening bring us to our bed
with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for 
Jesus's sake.

Amen.

Wishing kind thoughts for a Merry Christmas to all of my friends. Although we are of many faiths, it is important that our common humanity allows us to share a season of peace and goodwill.

Peace, Mike 

Friday, December 31, 2010

White Christmas in a winter wonderland

Christmas Day 
Albert Lea, Minn.


I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.
~ From "White Christmas" by Irving Berlin


Like the Irving Berlin classic song "White Christmas," there's something special about being able to spend Christmas Day in a winter climate, enjoying the snow on the ground and the nip in the air.  It was a moment in time captured during a nice walk to a nearby park following a hearty holiday breakfast.

A walk in Lakeview Park / Christmas Day scene in Albert Lea, Minn.

Last week, my wife and I spent our first Christmas Day in Minnesota ~ our home state ~ since 2000.  This year, our schedules permitted holiday travel, and we took full advantage of the opportunity.

Winter on Fountain Lake / One of Minnesota's 10,000 frozen lakes.

It was a very enjoyable wintry experience for us in Albert Lea, Minn., about 90 miles south of the Twin Cities.  We came prepared for winter and properly attired for our cold weather escapade, complete with our Lands End winter-weight parkas and boots, cable-knit scarves and colorful knitted mittens we bought years ago at a market bazaar during a visit to Estonia.

A winter wonderland / Fresh snow glistens on the trees.

And, of course, there was the warmth of Christmas Day spent indoors with family, opening presents, sharing good conversation around the fireplace, and enjoying delicious food. There was plenty of delicious food.

A white Christmas in a winter wonderland ... priceless.

Safe travels.  Happy 2011.  Cheers!