Day 3: Single truth
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, [Isaiah (7:14)] saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us” (Matthew 1:22-23 -NKJV).
Jesus, gentlest Savior,
God of might and power,
Thou Thyself art dwelling
in us at this hour.
Nature cannot hold Thee,
heaven is all too strait
for Thine endless glory
and Thy royal state.
Out beyond the shining
of the furthest star
Thou art ever stretching
infinitely far.
Yet the hearts of children
hold what worlds cannot,
and the God of wonders
loves the lowly spot.
Jesus, gentlest Savior,
dwelling in us now,
fill us full of goodness
till our hearts o'erflow.
Multiply our graces,
chiefly love and fear,
and, dear Lord, the chiefest,
grace to persevere.
~ Frederick W. Faber ~
And is it true? And is it true,
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass window's hue,
A Baby in an ox's stall ?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for me ?
And is it true? For if it is,
No loving fingers tying strings
Around those tissued fripperies,
The sweet and silly Christmas things,
Bath salts and inexpensive scent
And hideous tie so kindly meant,
No love that in a family dwells,
No carolling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this single Truth compare -
That God was man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine.
~ Excerpted from Christmas, by John Betjeman ~ 1906-1984
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