Facing Christmas

Facing Christmas

I shall attend to my little errands of love
      Early this  year
So that the brief days before Christmas may be
Unhampered and Clear
Of the fever of hurry. The breathless rushing,
      That I have known in the past.
Shall not possess me. I shall be calm in my soul
And ready at last.
For Christmas, “The Mass of the Christ.”

I shall kneel and call out His name;
I shall take time to watch the beautiful light
Of candle flame;
I shall have leisure – I shall go out alone
From my roof and my door
I shall not miss the silver silence of stars
As I have before;
And, oh, perhaps – If I stand there very still,
And very long -
I shall hear what the clamor of living has kept from me;
      The Angels’ song!

---Grace Noll Crawford, 1919

From The Radient Quest
        Harper and  Brothers Publishers, 1940

 shared by Connie Clark