Hi, everyone,

I get the messages from my friend Bea's church forwarded to me.  I thought
this week's was especially good, so here it is:
December 26, 2004
Jackson, MI
Pastor Cumings
The Morning After Christmas
On the day after Christmas life slides back to normal. When you put the tree
up, it was pure magic, all by itself. On the day after Christmas the tree
looks
empty - the magic left with the presents. Now it's just another chore,
waiting to be taken down.
On the day after Christmas all the spent boxes, wrapping paper and bows are
stuffed in plastic bags, along with the instructions to the digital gidgit
that
accidentally got tossed in with the rest - it's all waiting to go to the
dump.
On the day after Christmas meals are leftovers, whatever you can grab from
the fridge: cold ham or turkey sandwiches, the remains of the relish plate
and
several slices of dessert. Of course, there are platefuls of uneaten cookies
and candies - you won't be carb free for a month. And you still have to
reckon
with New Year's!
On the day after Christmas the kids are pre-occupied with their new toys.
Mom is pre-occupied with the returns and exchanges she'll have to make at
the
mall. And dad is putting off the credit card reckoning by watching the Lions
play the Bears.
On the day after Christmas it's time to put Christmas away - life returns to
daily.
I wonder what it was like for Joseph and Mary to get up the day after Christ's
birth. After they shake the sleep from their eyes, what do they think about?
What do they do? The angels and shepherds are gone. They don't have any
decorations to put away. I'm sure Mary asked about better and more permanent
housing
for the baby. What did "daily" feel like for the "holy family" after the
Hallmark moments had become ordinary? I wonder if it might have been
something
like this:
Twas the morning after Christmas and all through the stable
Every creature was stirring - (this isn't a fable).
The baby was laid in the manger with care
While echoes of angels still rang in the air.
His parents were nestled all snug in the hay
They slept as they could - they'd had a long day.
And the shepherds had drowsily returned to their sheep;
The excitement was over; their slumber was deep.
When soft from the manger there arose a small cry,
Mary stirred from her rest and got up with a sigh.
Though still half asleep, with a lullaby fair
She nursed little Jesus and stroked his soft hair.
The sun peeking through the stable's rude door
Warmed and brightened their morning as it splashed on the floor.
As Mary looked round and took in their rough home
She saw milk cows, and donkeys, and stalls made of stone;
With a few little mice nibbling oats from a sack,
Watching out for the innkeeper - they knew he'd be back.
The baby stopped nursing, Mary saw his eyes close;
And then she saw Joseph begin wiggling his toes.
He scrunched up his face and stretched in the hay,
And then smiled at Mary - time to start a new day.
There was breakfast to make, new lodging for three,
And the census, a job - housing wasn't for free.
But first he kissed Mary, and looked at her boy
Lying still in her arms almost like a toy.
"Jesus," he whispered, and remembered the sight
Of an angel invading his dreams in the night.
Call him, "Jesus," the angel had said to him then,
Call him, "Jesus," for he will be Savior of men.
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
So memories, anxieties filled his mind's eye,
The baby and angels and shepherds and such,
So much that he carried - sometimes twas too much.
And then with assurance, his wife took his hand,
"Remember, dear Joseph, that all this was planned."
There was much that they knew, much more they knew not;
This was all the unfolding of God's sovereign plot
To bring back to himself humankind gone astray.
It would cost God a lot, and a lot he would pay.
For he'd sent his own Son, and the Son left his side
To be born here on earth as a newborn to hide
His full glory as God, and all men would see
Was how God would live if like you and me.
He would fast in the desert, take Satan's best shots,
He'd change all the contents of six water pots.
And out on the lake - every fisherman's wish -
He'd fill up their nets with hundreds of fish.
With only a sack lunch of sardines and bread
A banquet would happen - 5000 be fed.
The blind would be seeing, the deaf would be hearing,
The lame would be leaping, the crowds would be cheering.
He would tell of his Father and call us to love
One another and God in his heaven above.
He would challenge hypocrisy, and explain what God meant
By the laws that he gave and the rules that he sent.
And outside of the city one day on a hill
Jesus would pay humankind's long due bill.
For the debt of our sins he would pour out his blood
Nailed fast to a cross, hammered hard to its wood.
But death would not hold our Lord in its grip,
Three long days later from its grasp he would slip
And arise from the grave to return to his home
With his Father in heaven, and there wait for his own.
Jesus would rescue mankind from Hell's prison.
It would cost him his life - that was his commission.
Love reached down from heaven and walked on the earth,
And it all started here in this stable's crude birth.
Mary and Joseph knew only a little
But to that which they knew they had made a committal.
This boy was Immanuel, Jesus, Messiah,
His coming foretold by Isaiah, Jeremiah.
Now he was lying safe and warm in the manger
(though a threat to old Herod, who thought him a danger).
To Mary and Joseph he was their only child
And watching him sleep had them wholly beguiled.
Twas the day after Christmas in Bethlehem's stable,
And we've told you the story as best as we're able.
Jesus is born so with joy we do say:
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good day!"
(With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore or Major Henry Livingston, both of
whom have been credited with authoring the original "Night Before
Christmas")
JulieMelton
visit me at
www.heart-and-music.com
Keep smiling!