Monday, December 17, 2012

A Christmas Prayer


 
The tree is up, the shopping is done.  I spent this weekend working on some handmade gifts for my children and grandchildren.  I also spent some time watching the news.  It's definitely been one of the saddest weekends of my lifetime.  Working on my gifts was such a mixed blessing to me...a reminder that my children and grandchildren are safe, but also a time to reflect on those whose lives will never be the same.  It's hard to move past that and think about celebrating...anything.

 
But when I think about what we're celebrating it becomes a little easier ....it makes more sense.  We're celebrating the birth of our Savior....and oh my goodness, we need a Savior so very much.

 
I love to read Max Lucado's blog.  Here's a couple excerpts from his post on 12-14-12. 
 
"These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated." 
 
"Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas. But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. The shepherds were nightshift workers. The Wise Men followed a star.... It was dark. Dark with Herod’s jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty. Dark with violence....
Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won’t you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger."
 
It was actually more than a post...it was a prayer.  One we all need to pray.
You might like to read  A Christmas Prayer
Some of the comments are beautiful too.

 

5 comments:

Simply Shelley said...

Have a blessed week my friend. Your tree is beautiful...did you receive a package from me? Just making sure it reached you OK.

It is a dark world we live in..better to let the light of Christ shine that much more through us....guiding others to where he is!

Dorthe said...

Oh dear Marie,
How can such a thing ever happen,- how very terribly, and so awful for the poor souls ,living through this.
The world need to change.
Have a blessed week, with your family.
HUgs ,Dorthe

Ann said...

The excerpt was beautiful. We do need a star to guide us.
So hard to understand how something so horrible could happen. Senseless.

Heather said...

What a beautiful prayer! Thank you for sharing it dear!

Blessings, Heather

Susan Holt Simpson said...

So true! It seems beyond me to even address the massacre of innocents that has happened in CT. Too horrible!

Reading this morning, Zechariah's prophecy in Luke 1, '... the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.'

Thanks for your post on this,

s