Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Celebrate Galilee

Christmas is nearly upon us!  In the midst of Christmas shopping, listening to Christmas music, preparing for finals week, and doing all the other crazy things involved with the hectic side of this season, I thought I'd just pause a moment and reflect on the true purpose of Christmas, which I think we too often forget at this busy time of the year.  I remembered a poem I wrote three years ago at Christmas time and thought it would be fun to share it with you.  I've titled it "Celebrate Galilee."  I hope you enjoy it!

Celebrate Galilee

The lights are bright, the tree superb,
The gifts are wrapped and neat.
And hundreds all around the world
Think Christmas is complete.

But there are those who speculate
That gifts and shiny things
Do not convey the wondrous joy
This holiday should bring.

And even those who know the truth
Of the birth of Christ, our Lord,
Still wonder why a little Babe
Should be important to the world.

Why is it that we celebrate
The birthday of a Babe
Who was born two thousand years ago?
Why doesn’t the significance fade?

Yes, He performed many miracles
And served thousands in his day,
But what set Him apart from others
Who have followed in His way?

To know this answer, one must look
At the last days He lived,
When He gave us the greatest gifts
That anyone could give.

In a sacred grove of olive trees
Now called Gethsemane,
Christ suffered for every sin and pain
Ever borne by you or me.

He bled from every pore because
He loved us, every one.
And now all those who walk this earth
Can be saved because of the Son.

Then, on the hill called Calvary,
Christ was crucified;
And yet, He asked God to forgive
His killers before he died.

Such was the greatness of this Man,
That, despite the awful pain,
He’d show His love for each of us
By doing it again.

Yet Jesus’ work was not yet done:
And after three days’ time,
He rose from death and broke the bands
With which we’re all confined.

And so, because of that small Babe,
Born on that Christmas night,
Each of us can live again
And gain eternal life.

So understand the insightful words
Of one general authority:
“Before we can understand Bethlehem,
We must know Galilee.”

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