Spirit of Christmas, The (version 2)

<h2>TWO CHRISTMAS PRAYERS</h2><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page51" id="page51"></SPAN></span> <h2>A CHRISTMAS PRAYER FOR THE HOME</h2> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <p>Father of all men, look upon our family,</p> <p>Kneeling together before Thee,</p> <p>And grant us a true Christmas.</p> </div> <div class="stanza"> <p>With loving heart we bless Thee:</p> <p class="i2">For the gift of Thy dear Son Jesus Christ,</p> <p class="i2">For the peace He brings to human homes,</p> <p class="i2">For the good-will He teaches to sinful men,</p> <p class="i2">For the glory of Thy goodness shining in His face.</p> </div> </div><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page52" id="page52"></SPAN></span> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <p>With joyful voice we praise Thee:</p> <p class="i2">For His lowly birth and His rest in the manger,</p> <p class="i2">For the pure tenderness of His mother Mary,</p> <p class="i2">For the fatherly care that protected Him,</p> <p class="i2">For the Providence that saved the Holy Child</p> <p class="i4">To be the Saviour of the world.</p> </div> <div class="stanza"> <p>With deep desire we beseech Thee:</p> <p class="i2">Help us to keep His birthday truly,</p> <p class="i2">Help us to offer, in His name, our Christmas prayer.</p> </div> <div class="stanza"> <p>From the sickness of sin and the darkness of doubt,</p> <p>From selfish pleasures and sullen pains,</p> </div> </div><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page53" id="page53"></SPAN></span> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <p>From the frost of pride and the fever of envy,</p> <p class="i2">God save us every one, through the blessing of Jesus.</p> </div> <div class="stanza"> <p>In the health of purity and the calm of mutual trust,</p> <p>In the sharing of joy and the bearing of trouble,</p> <p>In the steady glow of love and the clear light of hope,</p> <p class="i2">God keep us every one, by the blessing of Jesus.</p> </div> <div class="stanza"> <p>In praying and praising, in giving and receiving,</p> <p>In eating and drinking, in singing and making merry,</p> <p>In parents' gladness and in children's mirth,</p> <p>In dear memories of those who have departed,</p> </div> </div><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page54" id="page54"></SPAN></span> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <p>In good comradeship with those who are here,</p> <p>In kind wishes for those who are far away,</p> <p>In patient waiting, sweet contentment, generous cheer,</p> <p class="i2">God bless us every one, with the blessing of Jesus.</p> </div> <div class="stanza"> <p>By remembering our kinship with all men,</p> <p>By well-wishing, friendly speaking and kindly doing,</p> <p>By cheering the downcast and adding sunshine to daylight,</p> <p>By welcoming strangers (poor shepherds or wise men),</p> <p>By keeping the music of the angels' song in this home,</p> <p class="i2">God help us every one to share the blessing of Jesus:</p> </div> </div><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page55" id="page55"></SPAN></span> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <p>In whose name we keep Christmas:</p> <p>And in whose words we pray together:</p> </div> <div class="stanza"> <p><i>Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.</i></p> <p><i>Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.</i></p> <p><i>Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.</i></p> <p><i>And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:</i></p> <p><i>For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.</i></p> </div> </div><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page56" id="page56"></SPAN></span> <h2>A CHRISTMAS PRAYER FOR LONELY FOLKS</h2> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <p>Lord God of the solitary,</p> <p>Look upon me in my loneliness.</p> <p>Since I may not keep this Christmas in the home,</p> <p>Send it into my heart.</p> </div> <div class="stanza"> <p>Let not my sins cloud me in,</p> <p>But shine through them with forgiveness in the face of the child Jesus.</p> <p>Put me in loving remembrance of the lowly lodging in the stable of Bethlehem,</p> <p>The sorrows of the blessed Mary, the poverty and exile of the Prince of Peace.</p> </div> </div><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page57" id="page57"></SPAN></span> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <p>For His sake, give me a cheerful courage to endure my lot,</p> <p>And an inward comfort to sweeten it.</p> </div> <div class="stanza"> <p>Purge my heart from hard and bitter thoughts.</p> <p>Let no shadow of forgetting come between me and friends far away:</p> <p>Bless them in their Christmas mirth:</p> <p>Hedge me in with faithfulness,</p> <p>That I may not grow unworthy to meet them again.</p> </div> <div class="stanza"> <p>Give me good work to do,</p> <p>That I may forget myself and find peace in doing it for Thee.</p> <p>Though I am poor, send me to carry some gift to those who are poorer,</p> </div> </div><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page58" id="page58"></SPAN></span> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <p>Some cheer to those who are more lonely.</p> <p>Grant me the joy to do a kindness to one of Thy little ones:</p> <p>Light my Christmas candle at the gladness of an innocent and grateful heart.</p> </div> <div class="stanza"> <p>Strange is the path where Thou leadest me:</p> <p>Let me not doubt Thy wisdom, nor lose Thy hand.</p> <p>Make me sure that Eternal Love is revealed in Jesus, Thy dear Son,</p> <p>To save us from sin and solitude and death.</p> <p>Teach me that I am not alone,</p> <p>But that many hearts, all round the world,</p> <p>Join with me through the silence, while I pray in His name:</p> </div> </div><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page59" id="page59"></SPAN></span> <div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> <p><i>Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.</i></p> <p><i>Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.</i></p> <p><i>Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.</i></p> <p><i>And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:</i></p> <p><i>For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.</i></p> </div> </div> <hr class="full" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />