Adoration Of The Shepherds

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing, which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them." Luke 2: 8-20. KJV.

A Christmas Secret

"A Christmas Secret" by Anne Perry, a small book but a real jewel. I loved many things about this book; the interesting characters, great dialogue, memorable quotes, the background of where they lived, and of course the books theme and message. It is the 14th of December 1890 and a young couple that have been married for less than a year have traveled from London to Cottisham in Oxfordshire, England. The couple's names are Dominic and Clarice, Dominic is a young curate that has come to this village to take the place of Revered Wynter who is supposed to have gone on a holiday. Dominic and Clarice learn there are many secrets in this sleepy winter village, secrets that could be deadly. One of the memorable quotes from the book is; Clarice speaking, "What's the best about Christmas? she asked, trying to strip away the trite, all the things that had already been said. What does it really mean to us? What...what is it for? It's not goodwill, a brief time of peace of generosity. It has to be more than that."
Dominic answers, "It's the begining of our faith, he replied. Christ coming into the world. He said it as if it was obvious." By the end of the book both Dominic and Clarice will both be better able to answer the question of, "What's the best about Christmas?"

Christina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti was born 5 December 1830, she was an English poet from the Victorian period, she started writing at the age of 7, but was age 31 when her first poem was published. Her most well known poem is Goblin Market in 1862, in her later life she mainly wrote devotional and children's poems. She was outspoken about women's suffrage, volunteering at a home for prostitutes for 10 years. She died of cancer and graves disease on the 29 of December 1894.

"Love Came Down At Christmas"

"Love came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, love divine;

Love was born at Christmas,

Star and angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,

Love incarnate, love divine;

Worship we our Jesus:

But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,

Love shall be yours and love be mine,

Love to God and to all men,

Love for plea and gift and sign."

Christina Rossetti, Time Flies: A Reading Diary, 1885.

Winter Stillness, But With A Carol In The Air

"It Came Upon The Midnight Clear" is a poem and a well known Christmas carol written by

Edmund Sears in 1849.

"It came upon the midnight clear,

That glorious song of old,

From angels bending near the earth,

To touch their harps of gold:

'Peace on the earth, goodwill to men,

From heaven's all gracious King.'

The world in solemn stillness lay,

To hear the angels sing."

Two Scotsman

"Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others."

"A friend is a present you give yourself."

"The cruelest lies are often told in silence."

"Teacher, tender, comrade, wife, fellow-farer true through life."
Robert Louis Stevenson 1850-1894

"Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn!"

"Nae man can tether time or tide."

"Owad some power the giftie gie us. To see oursel's as ithers see us! It wad frae monie a blunder free us. And foolish notion, what airs in dress gait wad lea'e us and ev'n devotion!"
Robert Burns 1759-1796

A Need To Read Lord Byron

"She Walks In Beauty"
"She walks in beauty like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to the tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One ray the more, one shade the less
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress
Or softly lightens o'er her face,
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

And on that cheek and o'er that brow
So soft, so calm yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow
But tell of days in goodness spent
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent." Lord Byron

A Life Story of Perseverance

I had heard about the movie Amazing Grace, which is the story of the life of William Wilberforce and his tireless effort to abolish the slave trade. Hearing about the man peeked my interest in knowing more about him, I am always amazed at a human, dedicating tirelessly to an effort that they believe so much in, so much that it becomes their life mission. The book that I read was written by John Piper it is 76 pages but packed full of inspiration. William Wilberforce was born in 1759 in Hull, England, he had inherited a great sum of money from his father but in his youth spent it gambling, and on life's frivolities. He became a member of parliament in 1780. At age 25 he became ashamed of his previous life and made an about dramatic change, he re-directed his life back to God. He also became close friends with John Newton, a reformed slave ship captain, that wrote Amazing Grace. It was common knowledge that a person of parliament "did not associate with, or be seen with despised evangelicals." William was also involved in many other causes, as many as 69 at one time. He worked to end the use of small boys being used as chimney sweeps, prison reform, and the prevention of cruelty to animals. Their were many who opposed William in his work to abolish slavery, money and power was at stake. William was rediculed and pressured to give up. In 1807 the slave trade was abolished, but it was not until 1833 that slavery itself was outlawed. William Wilberforce died 3 months after this last victory.
From the first few lines of a sonnet from William Cowper;
"Thy country, Wilberforce, with just disdain,
Hears thee by cruel men and impious call'd
Fanatic, for thy zeal to loose the enthrall'd
From exile, public sale, and slavery's chain.
Friend of the poor, the wrong'd, the feter-gall'd,
Fear not lest labor such as thine be vain."

A Simple Book

I needed to read a simple and uncomplicated book, I chose book 2 in the Mitford series, "A Light In The Window" by Jan Karon. I had read book 1 "At Home In Mitford" several years ago, I am not sure why I never continued on with reading all of the Mitford books, I suppose I was side tracked by so many other books in my endless to be read pile. Book 2 "The Light In The Window" continues on with the story of Father Tim an Episcopal minister, his growing relationship with his neighbor Cynthia, and several characters in the town of Mitford in North Carolina. Their life in small town Americana Mitford is relaxing compared to most of us in our hectic lives. Father Tim also has a teenage boy living in his home, a boy that he took in to provide for a better life. Father Tim always struggle to make time for others, always busy with his daily committed life as a minister. He struggles to make the right decisions in being an affective shepherd for his congregation and for the town of Mitford. He struggles to define and then work on the building relationship with his neighbor Cynthia. Even though the book is simple, nothing serious, no great crisis, I still enjoyed reading the book, and I was inticed to keep reading, always wanting to see what was on the next page. Book 3 "These High Green Hills" is in my to be read pile, soon!

A Quote

"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal." Albert Pike

Reading Short Stories

"The Treasury of English Short Stories, 5 Centuries of Classic Short Stories" edited by Nancy Sullivan. I admit I did not read the entire book, I skimmed through all of the book and settled on reading 8 of the stories. Two of the stories I considered very good; "The Colonel's Lady" by W. Somerset Maugham and "The Old Man" by Daphne Du Maurier. Both stories drew me in and peeked my interest to kept me reading till the end. In a short story there is not time to go into long descriptions, nor to develop a gradual development of a story, I have to admit I missed that. "The Colonel's Lady" is the story about a husband that is concerned about a book his wife has written, it is a rather steamy and sexy novel. He believes that maybe the book his wife has written was from her own personal experience. Most of this story is the husband conversing with a friend about his concern. "The Old Man", the reader is led to believe that the story is about a human family, but the story does bring to an end a different set of circumstances, and thus a little surprise.

December Reading

I have a stack of books that I am working through in reading; "A Christmas Secret" by Anne Perry, "These High, Green Hills" by Jan Karon, "Patrick" by Stephen R. Lawhead, "A Few Green Leaves" by Barbara Pym, and "Christ The Lord Out of Egypt" by Anne Rice. I am nearly finished with 2 books; "A Light in the Window" by Jan Karon and "The Treasury of English Short Stories" edited by Nancy Sullivan. I have been side tracked away from reading by preparations for Christmas; normal reading will probably not be back to "my normal" until after the holidays. I often feel like the man in the painting above, so many books, so little time!