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Christmas Blessings: Prayers and Poems to Celebrate the Season

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I loved this book, it's the perfect little stocking stuffer. Filled with stories and poems to be enjoyed with a cup of hot chocolate. Also some wonderful selections for grace at Chrismas dinner. There are old favorites and others that I'd never seen before. My only complaint was that "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause" was abridged.

Since before the birth of Christ, evergreens have been part of observances of the winter solstice, partly because they provide reassurance that life continues even as winter sets in. The earliest artificial trees were introduced in the mid-19th century in Germany and made of goose feathers. In 1930, it reached America and was sold as secondary decorations, for people who couldn't manage a real tree. Today, people buy them because of the memories. They want to reproduce the Christmases they had as children. Aluminum models were popular from 1959 to the Seventies; the sparse branches of a 1960s model provide plenty of room to show off ornaments, but were not made for the electric lights we use today. A pink aluminum tree in good condition is worth more than $1200 now.

Still of the Night

New-fallen snow covers the ground
the scent of winter fills the air
children playing in the streets
living life without a care

A lonely snowman stands
proudly in the square
adults go rushing past
without noticing he is there

Candles flicker in the window
like a guiding light
casting a gentle shadow
into the stillness of the night

In the distance there are church bells
that suddenly start to ring
announcing the arrival of Christmas
Remembering the birth of the King.

Wreaths evolved from diadems, whihc were worn as crowns by ancient Persian royalty, later to honor the victors of Olympic Games. It was a tradition for the winners to hang the souvenirs on their doors. They come in many varieties for Christmas, from artificial evergreens to real carnations with a fancy wreath topper. Garlands are traditional for staircases, but two popular ones for children to make and put on the tree are the popcorn and cranberries strung apart or together. The best and strongest material to use for these is waxed dental floss; they slide on easily and won't break. I did the cranberries this year and inserted beads in between for one of my three small trees. When I was younger, we always had cedar trees, as they grew in this area, but the branches were not strong enough for such heavy things as cranberries. In olden days, they did use the popcorn garlands on them, however.

"Bright star! would I were steadfast as thou art--
Not in lone splendor hung alopt the night,
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like Nature's patient, sleepless eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors."

A clever thing to make is a pomander pyramid out of the large oranges or grapefruit with cloves encircling the fruit. You stack the fruit on a cake stand using clear plates between the four layers. Cardamon is the dried flower of an herb related to ginger. It's history goes back a thousand years and played a big role in the spice trade from india and Sri Lanka. It is used in Scandinavian desserts as well.

From "To A Snowflake"
So purely, so palely, tinily, surely, mightily, fraility, insculped and embossed,
Wish His hammer of wind, and His graver of frost."

In America, Santa fill stockings at each house with trinkets for the children (we call them stocking stuffers now; when I was young, it was only fruit, nuts and candy.) and sometimes the adults. In other countries, little gifts are hidden in the children's shoes. Betty Keller worked as a director in theatrical workshops in British Columbia, and for four years was a principal director with Playhouse Holiday in Vancouver. She was a teacher of drama and theater. Her short play, "Tea Party," is about two lonely elderly sisters who have outlived their friends and relatives; they see only occasional people like the paperboy or the man who reads the meters. Her sketch shows their plight, touching on the pathos of their loneliness. We need to remember such people during the holiday season, as this is not a happy time for the secluded old ladies who have no family. Hymns, poems, stories, seasonal foods all contribute to a Merry Christmas for all. Christmas is not just for children anymore.