{"id":1555,"date":"2014-12-24T19:42:20","date_gmt":"2014-12-25T00:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=1555"},"modified":"2014-12-24T20:07:31","modified_gmt":"2014-12-25T01:07:31","slug":"christmas-in-a-verse-a-prayer-a-poem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=1555","title":{"rendered":"Christmas in a Verse, a Prayer, & a Poem"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Blog<\/a><\/p>\n

A Christmas Verse<\/a><\/p>\n

For unto us a Child is born,
\nUnto us a Son is given;<\/span>
\nAnd the government will be upon His shoulder.<\/span>
\nAnd His name will be called<\/span>
\nWonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,<\/span>
\nEverlasting Father, Prince of Peace.<\/span> – Isaiah 9:6<\/p>\n

[And One More<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.\u00a0 – Matthew 1:23<\/p>\n

A Christmas Prayer<\/a><\/p>\n

O Lord, how hard it is to accept your way. You come to me as a small, powerless child born away from home. You live for me as a stranger in your own land. You die for me as a criminal outside the walls of the city, rejected by your own people, misunderstood by your friends, and feeling abandoned by your God.<\/p>\n

As I prepare to celebrate your birth, I am trying to feel loved, accepted, and at home in this world, and I am trying to overcome the feelings of alienation and separation which continue to assail me. But I wonder now if my deep sense of homelessness does not bring me closer to you than my occasional feelings of belonging. Where do I truly celebrate your birth: in a cozy home or in an unfamiliar house, among welcoming friends or among unknown strangers, with feelings of well-being or with feelings of loneliness?<\/p>\n

I do not have to run away from those experiences that are closest to yours. Just as you do not belong to this world, so I do not belong to this world. Every time I feel this way I have an occasion to be grateful and to embrace you better and taste more fully your joy and peace.<\/p>\n

Come, Lord Jesus, and be with me where I feel poorest. I trust that this is the place where you will find your manger and bring your light. Come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen. (The Road to Daybreak <\/em>by Henri J. M. Nouwen)<\/p>\n

A Christmas Poem<\/a><\/p>\n

Not Celebrate?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Your burden is too great to bear? Your loneliness is intensified during this Christmas season? Your tears have no end?<\/p>\n

Not celebrate?<\/p>\n

You should lead the celebration! You should run through the streets to ring the bells and sing the loudest! You should fling the tinsel on the tree, and open your house to your neighbors, and call them in to dance!<\/p>\n

For it is you above all others who know the joy of Advent. It is unto you<\/strong> that a Savior is born this day, One who comes to lift your burden from your shoulders, One who comes to wipe the tears from your eyes. You<\/strong> are not alone, for He is born this day to you<\/strong>. – Ann Weems<\/p>\n

A Verse<\/a> – Isaiah 9:6<\/a> & Matthew 1:23<\/a><\/p>\n

A Prayer<\/a><\/p>\n

A Poem<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Christmas Verse For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6 [And One More] Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring … Continue reading Christmas in a Verse, a Prayer, & a Poem<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[813,50,33,18,32,203],"tags":[884,1846,838,882,1835,883,881,648,885,880],"class_list":["post-1555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-god","category-inspired","category-jesus","category-walk-with-god","category-word-of-god","tag-burdened","tag-christmas","tag-emmanuel","tag-god-with-us","tag-jesus","tag-lonely","tag-poem","tag-prayer","tag-stranger","tag-verse"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pauPAB-p5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1555"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1563,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555\/revisions\/1563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}