Poem: Bethlehem

As I mentioned last week, for Sundays during Christmas in July,  I am trying to find meaningful poems to share with you all.  Here is one,  by an unknown author,  that I recently found:

Bethlehem

A little child,
A shining star.
A stable rude,
The door ajar.
Yet in that place, 
So crude, forlorn,
The Hope of all 
The world was born.
~ Anonymous

How beautiful, don't you agree?  He is our only Hope.

The illustration at the top of the post is a page from one of my vintage Christmas carol books. 

Sing Out the Carols of Old

Vintage Christmas carol book from my personal collection

Here is another lovely Christmas poem by Mildred L. Jarrell.   Enjoy!

Sing Out the Carols of Old

Let us have music for Christmas ...

Sing out the carols of old,

Rejoice in the birth of the Christ Child,

The most wonderful story e'er told.

Sing with a heart filled with gladness

And love for the Heavenly King ...

Lift up your voice with song and praise

Until the rafters ring.

Let us have music for Christmas

In the glow of candlelight,

Mingled with snow and mistletoe

And shepherds that watch by night.

Sing of the star and wise men too,

And angels watching above ...

Bring once again to the homes of men

The gift of wondrous love.

Let us have music for Christmas ...

Sound the trumpet of joy and rebirth;

Let each of us try, with a song in our hearts,

To bring peace to men on earth.

~ Mildred L. Jarrell

I love that, especially the lines "Let each of us try, with a song in our hearts, to bring peace to men on earth."  Oh, how people need to know the peace of God today!  Let's purpose to share His incomparable peace with a song in our hearts!

One more verse from the Christmas card banners

A page from one of my vintage Christmas carol booklets

Back before Christmas, I wrote about how my granddaughter and I made fun banners from some old Christmas cards.  It was especially neat that some of them were made with the messages and greetings from inside the cards, not just pictures from the fronts.  I've shared a few of these messages already, and here is one more -- the last one I'll share.

"We were not there to hear or see,

But our hopes and dreams of eternity

Are centered around that holy story

When God sent us His Son in glory.

And no event ever left behind

A transformation of this kind ...

So question and search

and doubt, if you will,

But the story of Christmas is living still."

~ Helen Steiner Rice

I recently heard of an elementary school teacher in our area who was trying to explain the true meaning of Christmas to her students.  It seems that only one or two of the children had any idea that Christmas had anything at all to do with a Baby in a manger.  Still, as the poem says, the Christmas story is ever-living.  Are we sharing it?

Vintage Christmas carol books ~ a small collection

I have a small collection of vintage Christmas carol books and recently scanned some of the images from them. I thought others might enjoy seeing these lovely old illustrations as well.

Here's one of the book covers.

The back cover of this book is pretty, too.

This one has an image of choir boys.

And lastly, a Victorian village scene.

This rather amusing illustration is on the inside front cover of the above book.

Here is the table of contents from one of the books.

Now for some of the songs. Here's I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.

Jingle Bells.

O Christmas Tree.

O Little Town of Bethlehem.

O Holy Night. Love the printing on this one.

The First Noel.

Here We Come A-Wassailing.

This fun saying is a good way to end this whimsical post!