About this blog and the blogger

HI, I'm Mark and I'm a Middle-Aged, Middlesaxon male. I'm proud of my origins here in the South East of England, and am a historian by academic training and inclination, as well as a specialist in Christian writing and pastoral work. 'Anyway' is where you'll find my occasional thoughts on a wide variety of topics. Please dip into my large archive. I hope you enjoy reading, and please make use of the comments facility. Radio FarFar is really a dormant blog at present, but I may from time to time add thoughts my other main passions, audio broadcasting. You can also join the debate, keep up to date with my activities and learn more about me in my Facebook profile- see link on this page. I'm very much a friendly, WYSIWYG type, if you've not visited this blog before, do introduce yourself -I'd love to get to know you. Carry on reading, and God Bless

Tuesday 25 December 2007

So Is This Christmas?

Written in the small hours of Christmas morning, 25th December 2007, in a silent London suburb

Is it merely a feeling
Or the truth most appealing?
Did God come to Earth
Through the journey of birth
Or is man the worst fool
with no hope at all?

Is it carols and candles
And carrier bag handles?
Or Mince pies, roast turkey
And bright winter jersey?

Is it a baby, a manger-
Or is there a danger
That we abandon the boy
Who would sin's power destroy

Is it family and blood ties
Or spotted blue neck ties
The man in the gutter
Or spuds smeared with butter?

Some Christmas, some year
Should we come to our senses
And let the day speak
For Jesus, our Lord, who was the defenceless

Who came to a land, where no peace there yet dwells
Where the deafening bomb blast
Replaces the bells

Should we not see him in the eyes of a child
Or any new mother, so tender and mild
Should we not know him in words of goodwill
Should we not hear him- for he cries to us still

Should we not smell him, in sweet smells of spice
Remembering too, that he carried our vice
Should we not know him, for know him we must
To witness the saviour, the righteous and just

If these few things we can believe
Then surely Christmas will achieve
The wonder of wonders
Miracle of miracles
God is with us, Noel, Noel.

Wherever you are, I wish you a peaceful, happy and joyful Christmas, and may your day be merry and bright.

God bless all my readers, new and old

Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Glory to the New Born King!

2 comments:

Esther said...

Thank you for this beautiful poem, and Merry Christmas! Here in the states it's still Christmas Eve (and my son's 18th birthday). In a few hours we'll attend Midnight Mass. God bless you and may your Christmas be merry and bright and full of the light of our Savior, Christ!

Mark A Savage said...

Hi Esther, and thank you for your greetings and words of encouragement. You're the first person to comment on this posting, and you've made my Christmas Day!
I was too busy to blog much earlier in Advent but Christmas compels one to write and express the deepest of emotions, doesn't it. By writing before I got a few hours shut-eye earlier, I knew that I could capture both the Christmas Eve reader like yourself (what part of the States are you in?) and indeed others further East, as well as my Australian friends, where they are now well into Christmas Night.
I hope your son had a happy 18th birthday; what a great day to become a man! And all the best to you and your family for Christmas Day, too. I hope you continue to enjoy reading this blog, and keep in touch.