Nativity Christmas 12-8-12

Does someone call as snowflakes fall

upon my window sill?

There comes a sleigh. The horses neigh,

in spirit of goodwill.

There's not a breeze.  My mind's at ease.

They bid me, "Come" they say.

So I step out.  There is no doubt -

that this is Christmas Day.

I hop aboard and ride on toward -

a town that's splashed with sights.

I look ahead at green and red.

I love those Christmas lights.

The air is crisp. I see a wisp -

on front of horses' mane -

that bounce with pep at every step.

The horses do not wane.

---

Hear sleigh bells chime throughout that time

until I got to town -

And hooves had clopped until they stopped

as I arrived downtown.

Nativity...  I smiled with glee -

heard carols in the air.

The shepherds spied.  The three Magi

saw Jesus sleeping there.

A camel knelt.  In joy they dwelt -

in cushioned stable hay -

A scene on earth of virgin birth -

where one man came to pray.

A poor old man, all wrinkled tan,

was kneeling on the ground.

His hair was messed but he was blessed

as snow fell all around.

Some kids walked through, in contrast to -

his humble position.

And then they felled the cane he held,

reckless recognition.

God woos each one who seek His Son -

but they paid no attention.

I heard them joke each time they spoke

within their own dimension.

He reached in vain to get his cane.

His countenance was grim -

then heard him say, "wife passed away."

as I gave it to him.

Through eyelids tight, they drew my sight -

I saw more tears come through.

It touched my heart, tore me apart -

so I knelt down there too.

---

Snowflakes falling, Jesus calling -

calling from above.

Can you live it?  Christmas spirit -

wooing all, in love...

©2012 louis gander - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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Mark 2:14 (KJV)
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

A Perfect Masterpiece 12-3-12

Peered I, up to the heavens. So stunned, I stood in awe.

His hand swept over East to West and this is what I saw...

A sight exposing every truth, that made me nearly faint.

A sight, that in a million years, no man could ever paint.

A special, brand new masterpiece that God creates each day.

A special, brand new vision that He gives along my way.

I see a vast creation that is pure outside and in

before His work is tarnished by horrendous, evil sin.

He paints His skies so differently. No two are just the same.

He paints the creatures on the earth - the wild and the tame.

The sunsets over mountain peaks are not identical -

and snowflakes falling from the sky - not precisely equal.

The clouds float freely with the breeze while rolling on thin air.

Though no two skies are just alike, they share the canvas there.

And no two meadows look the same as I walk down His path.

I see no trees identical when grown through nature's wrath.

Not equal are the mountain streams or creatures of the wild.

And so unique the sunsets are - as faces of a child.

So patiently, a flower bud waits ready to unfurl.

A swirl of brilliant petals bloom.  I see a little girl.

Her whole life laid in front of her that she became forthwith -

another link within the chain this world had yanked her with.

Priorities had dragged her from her work to shopping mall.

And every day, a masterpiece - yet she had missed them all.

Now richly dressed as all the rest who never seemed to care,

she peered inside a cancer ward and saw young children there.

She saw the face of one small boy with cute and chubby cheeks -

and though the tears had dried away she saw the many streaks.

They washed away the happiness in life so short, but giving -

as sin has made the sky to fall on innocent still living.

God waves His hand across the sky, but have I failed to see -

out way beyond my own routine, beyond my vanity?

God paints a perfect masterpiece on each and every child.

I finally saw His masterpiece when that young child smiled.

Peered I, up to the heavens. Through tears, I prayed in awe.

His hand swept over East to West and that is what I saw...

©2012 louis gander - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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Christmas Eyes 11-1-12

My mama was a loving spouse who did her very best

to keep my father happy and she never did protest -

to what my father said and did to add to her abuse -

and all the things I saw him do.  There wasn't an excuse.

My father was a spiteful man who argued quite a lot

and it had hurt my mama so that she became distraught..

I pulled weeds from her garden and I chopped a lot of wood

that heated up our cooking stove.  I helped her all I could.

As we prepared for Christmas Day and all that was in store,

enjoyed, I did, those special times with mama even more.

Yes, more than any other month could ever even boast,

December was that special time that we enjoyed the most.

One cold December morning came when father went to find,

a full and perfect Norway Spruce.  (I tagged along behind).

The woods were vast.  There must have been a million evergreen

which held a billion snowflakes out in sparkling winter scene.

Reflective sunlight shimmered bright which made my eyelids squint

so I looked down and found that all my footsteps made a print -

in snow so fun to walk through as it crushed beneath my feet -

(although at times the drifts caused me to detour or retreat).

That made me pause and catch a glimpse of smoke from fireplace

meandering above our house so wanting to embrace -

a family fraught with nervous fears and silent times 'to boot' -

as father, with his ego big, had muffled mama mute.

But fragrance from the many pine had found my little nose -

and tiny snowflakes glistened while they settled on our clothes -

reminding me that all is well despite my parents quarrels

and I could choose a better life with character and morals -

to live a life, not crooked, as we trekked from place to place -

to find that perfect tree to decorate our living space.

We trampled each direction and at last he gave a sigh.

We finally found that perfect spruce - my father, saw and I.

The night was strangely silent as we sat around our tree
when mom's love and compassion had been proven true to me.

Out through the corner of my eye, I viewed dejected years -

and though she tried to hold them back, I saw her lonely tears.

Throughout that night the light escaped reflecting off the floor,

and whispered prayers were carried out from underneath her door...
But light no longer flickers from the candles flaming tips

and silenced too, are verses that I heard from mama's lips.
I know that father long regrets his former wicked ways -
but through my tears, I won't forget those special Christmas days
with scenes of the Nativity and tree exactly right,

with memories of mama and the truth that came to light.

Yes, this was many years ago that father and I spied -

then cut that perfect Norway Spruce the day before she died.

I heard his weeping through the door - such deep, repentant cries -

but now he sees as mama did... through humble Christmas eyes.

©2012 louis gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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Romans 10 (NASB)
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”
—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord,
and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness,
and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”