PRAYING HANDS

There are hands that help and comfort,
Hands that plan and teach,
Hands that rest and hands that strive
For a goal just out of reach,
Hands that grasp and hands that give,
Hands that work and play,
Friendly hands and loving hands
That soothes life's cares away.
But praying hands are dearest
In the sight of God above
For in their sweet and earnest clasp
Are reverence and love.
No hands can do an unkind act
Nor cause another care
Nor sin against Our Father's love
When they are clasped in prayer.
Author Unknown

I Heavenly Father, in this time of hustle and bustle, thoughts of shopping and gift giving, skating and sledding, snowman making and laughter, cooking and company, cards and letters, memories and smiles, help us to remember the gift that you gave to us that blessed night so long ago. May we share with others the love that you shared with us. Bless us with patience and peace, forgiveness and love. May we see the angels that you send, not as interruptions in our schedule, but as creations in your image to touch and to love. As the snow trickles down from the sky this Christmas, shower us with a faith that lets nothing stand in the way of growing closer and closer to you every day. Ignite in us new desires, hopes, plans and dreams that will lead us all to you. Amen

There's more, much more to Christmas
Than candlelight and cheer;
It's the spirit of sweet friendship
That brightens all the year;
It's thoughtfulness and kindness,
It's hope reborn again,
For peace, for understanding
And for goodwill to men!
Author Unknown

We miss the spirit of Christmas, if we consider the incarnation as an indistinct and doubtful, far off event unrelated to our present problems. We miss the purport of Christ's birth if we do not accept it as a living link which joins us together in spirit as children of the ever living and true God. In love alone - the love of God and the love of man - will be found the solution of all the ills which afflict the world today. Slowly, sometimes painfully, but always with increasing purpose, emerges the great message of Christianity: Only with wisdom comes joy, and with greatness comes love.
Harry S. Truman

Jesus said, "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."'
John 7:38

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the Shepherds are back with their flock,
The Work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feel the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.

And to radiate the Light of Christ, every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say. Then the Work of Christmas begins.
Howard Thurman

John Pierpont died a failure. In 1866, at age eighty-one, he came to the end of his days as a government clerk in Washington, D.C., with a long string of personal defeats abrading his spirit.

Things began well enough. He graduated from Yale, which his grandfather had helped found, and chose education as his profession with some enthusiasm.

He was a failure at school teaching. He was too easy on his students. He turned to the legal world for training.
He was a failure as a lawyer. He was too generous to his clients and too concerned about justice to take the cases that brought good fees. The next career he took up was that of dry-goods merchant.

He was a failure as a businessman. He could not charge enough for his goods to make a profit, and was too liberal with credit. In the meantime he had been writing poetry, and though it was published, he didn't collect enough royalties to make a living.

He was a failure as a poet. And so he decided to become a minister, went off to Harvard Divinity School, was ordained as minister of the Hossis Street Church in Boston. But his position for Prohibition and against slavery got him crosswise with the influential members of his congregation and he was forced to resign.

He was a failure as a minister. Politics seemed a place where he could make some difference, and he was nominated as the Abolition party candidate for governor of Massachusetts. He lost. Undaunted, he ran for Congress under the banner of the Free Soil party. He lost.

He was a politician. The Civil War came along, and he volunteered as a chaplain of the 22nd Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteers. Two weeks later he quit, having found the task too much of a strain on his health. He was seventy six years old. He couldn't even make it as a chaplain.

Someone found him an obscure job in the back offices of the Treasury Department in Washington. He finished out the last five years of his life as a menial file clerk. He wasn't very good at that either. His heart was not in it.

John Pierpont died a failure. He had accomplished nothing he set out to do or be. There is a small memorial stone marking his grave in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The words in the granite read: Poet, Preacher, Philosopher, Philanthropist.

From this distance in time, one might insist that he was not, in fact, a failure. His commitments to social justice, his desire to be a loving human being, his active engagement in the great issues of his times, and his faith in the power of the human mind, these are not failures. Much of what he thought of as defeat became success. Education was reformed, legal processes were improved, credit laws were changed, and above all, slavery was abolished once and for all.

Many nineteenth century reformers had similar lives - similar failures and successes. In one very important sense, John Pierpont was not a failure. Every year, come December, we celebrate his success. We carry in our hearts and minds a lifelong memorial to him.

It is a song. Not about Jesus or angels or even Santa Claus. It's a terribly simple song about the simple joy of whizzing through the cold white dark of winters gloom in a sleigh pulled by one horse. And with the company of friends, laughing and singing all the way. No more. No less. "Jingle Bells." John Pierpont wrote "Jingle Bells".

One snowy afternoon in deep winter, John Pierpont penned the lines as a small gift for his family and friends and congregation. And in doing so he left behind a permanent gift for Christmas - the best kind - not the one under the tree, but the invisible, invincible one of joy. John Pierpont did not die a failure.
Author Unknown

Live your life while you have it. Life is a splendid gift. There is nothing small in it. For the greatest things grow by God's Law out of the smallest. But to live your life you must discipline it. You must not fritter it away in fair purpose, erring act, inconstant will, but make your thoughts, your acts, all work to the same end and that end, not self, but God. That is what we call character.
Florence Nightingale

Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
Luke 10:20

Loving Father, help us remember the birth of Jesus,
That we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness
Of the shepherds, and worship of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world.
Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil by the blessing, which Christ brings,
And teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children,
and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful
thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
Robert Louis Stevenson

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church.
Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments

Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit: Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

The ten lords a-leaping were the Ten Commandments.

The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in The Apostles' Creed.
Author Unknown

O God, help me to remember what Christmas is all about. Help me to look up and follow your star all year - every year. Help me to lead others to you. Amen.

Hark! The Christmas bells are ringing-
Ringing through the frosty air-
Happiness to each one bringing,
And release from toil and care.

How the merry peal is swelling
From the gray old crumbling tower;
To the simplest creature telling
Of Almighty love and power.

Ankle-deep the snow is lying,
Every spray is clothed in white,
Yet abroad the folk are hieing,
Brisk and busy, gay and light.

Now fresh helps and aids are offered
To the aged and the poor,
And rare love-exchanges proffered
At the lowliest cottage door.

Neighbors shaking hands and greeting,
No one sorrowing, no one sad,
Children, loving parents meeting,
Young and old alike are glad.

Then while Christmas bells are ringing,
Rich and poor; your voices raise,
And-your simple carol singing-
Waft to heaven your grateful praise.
Author Unknown

The kingdom of God is within you.
Luke 17:21

As fits the holy Christmas birth,
Be this, good friends, our carol still -
Be peace on earth, be peace on earth,
To men of gentle will.
William Makepeace Thackeray

Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another.
George Elliot

Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all the philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of the school, he spoke words of life such as were never spoken before, no since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he has set more pens in motion and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, works of art, learned volumes, and sweet songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times. Born in a manger and crucified as a malefactor, he now controls the destinies of the civilized world, and rules a spiritual empire which embraces one third of the inhabitants of the globe.
Philip Schaff

Lord; help me to live life through the eyes of a child. A life that is pleasing to you, obedience motivated by love with a faith unfailing. Let me see the angels that you send to me, not as interruptions in my schedule, but as creations in your image to touch and to love. Give me a love others can count on, a steadfast, unconditional, all-encompassing love that will not fail. Give me a faith that lets nothing stand in the way of my growing closer and closer to you every day. Let my desires and my dreams, my hopes and my plans, be planted and approved by you. Amen.

If you believe in something, you support it. If you support something, the time comes when good wishes and cordial words are not enough and your hand reaches for your pocketbook. Then the fun begins. For giving is fun. If you refuse to give, your support is wavering; and if your support wavers, it can't be that you believe in that something in any strong way. Maybe our account books, after all, offer the honest list of those things in which we really believe.

Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.
Pamela Vaull Starr

The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each other's burdens, easing other's loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas.
W. C. Jones

Those who trust in the Lord for help
will find their strength renewed.
They will rise on wings like eagles;
they will run and not get weary;
they will walk and not grow weak.
Isaiah 40:31

You go no where by accident.
Wherever you go, God is sending you.
Wherever you are, God has put you there.
He has a purpose in your being there.
Christ who dwells in you has something
He wants to do through you where you are.
Believe this and go in His grace and love and power.
Richard C. Halverson, Chaplain of the United States Senate

O God, help me to touch someone today with my eyes, my words,
my smile, my voice, my laughter, Your word.
Change my life, so I can make a difference.
Let my actions bring someone closer to you.
Help me to make Christmas last all year.
Help me to use my gifts for Jesus.

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