Let me come eagerly to Christmas this year (Marjorie Holmes)

  Let me come eagerly to Christmas this year, Lord.  Let me come gaily, with a new delight in the countless things I must accomplish – the shopping, the wrapping, and mailing, the addressing of mountains of cards.  Let me find new joy in the bazaars, the parties and programs, the baking and decorating… not to mention all the things I’ve promised to do for others.

  Instead of my usual seasonal panic, fill me with a glowing sense of trust and peace.  Each day that I awake, let me rejoice in the fact that I’m well and able to do it – that I can get up and begin.

  And though there never seems to be enough time (or money), let me remember that you’ve never let us down.  That, as with the loaves and the fishes, a miracle happens each year.  There is always plenty – more than plenty.  The house overflows with gifts and friends, the tree is bowed with its shining burden, the table groans with delicious things to eat.

  Even time stretches out like a magic ribbon, somehow embracing all that must be done.  As for strength – therein lies the greatest marvel of all.  You give each of us extra portions for the season so that at the end, like children, we hug Christmas close to our hearts and don’t want it to be over.

  Remind me of all this as I prepare for Christmas this year, Lord.  Let me come eagerly to the seemingly impossible, knowing that this holy, happy season is a time of miracles.  Amen.

--Marjorie Holmes, 

A Woman’s Conversation with God, 1973

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