Longing for Christmas
By Nancy Jordan Unks
It’s a malady so common in December:
Excessive, wistful, sentimental yearning
For times long past that cannot be recovered, for
Sweet aromas, sights and sounds, the touch of one beloved.
Nostalgia’s gloom pervades the soul;
On spirit and body, exacts its toll.
But Jesus’ better way longs for tomorrow
When heaven and earth are new and there’s no sorrow.
Emmanuel, God’s Son, forever with us, his
Tender touch, eternal light and sweet reunions joyous.
No pain, no crying, no decay;
Oh, what a glorious Christmas Day!
He Gave Birth
By Ward Shope
He gave birth to the earth, was implanted in a womb
To exhale death and give breath through the birth of the tomb.
For alien sin alive within had exiled us from home,
But loving justice would entrust us, through death that did atone,
to Him who gives and eternally lives through midwife sacrifice.
Now reborn, we’re headed toward a kingdom age with no vice.
So now we raise eternal praise for His condescending birth
into human flesh, which through death, bears new heavens and new earth.