All bowed before the new-born
In that stable forlorn
Shepherds and their beasts
And the magi from the east
The noble men of wealth
Concerned about his heath
Gave gifts of myrrh, frankincense and gold
Gifts his tiny hands could not hold
And at the centre of this scene
Slept the young King serene
They stood in breathless wonder
At the babe so meek and mild
And with their gifts they knelt
At the feet of the holy child
Pulled with violence
To break the silence
Choring, drawing
Mechanism priming
Ready for chiming
Banging, clanging
Momentum gaining
Timbers straining
Creaking, speaking
Mechanical timing
With rhythm climbing
Swaying, obeying
The peel resounding
A sound astounding
Ringing, singing
The call goes out
Around and about
Voicing, rejoicing
Come says the calling
Come one and all in
Morning, morning
Christ born this day
The Christmas bells say
Rejoicing, rejoicing
“God with us,” or Emmanuel
“A savior”
In Hebrew called Joshua
In Greek the name was Jesus
“The chosen one”
In Hebrew called Messiah
In Greek named Christ
Jesus Christ
The Son of God
A Jew Born in the Roman Empire
Given by God to the world
For two thousand years
Not known by a Latin name
But known by all by his name in Greek
There is a legend suggesting that Martin Luther
Who was a sixteenth century religious
reformer
And founder of the Protestant church in
Germany
Was the first to put candles onto a Christmas
tree
It’s said he was walking home one winter’s
night
When he noticed the stars were shinning
bright
And through the tree’s he saw the twinkling
light
And he was so impressed by this majestic
sight
When he returned home he set up his Christmas
tree
Decorating it with lighted candles for all to
see
In Rome a monk living about 530 ad
A mathematician and an
astronomer
Was given the task of calculating
And reforming the Christian
calendar
In essence to pinpoint with all precision
The date of Jesus Christ’s
birth exactly
A miscalculation was discovered later
He was four years out
unfortunately
Christ was born on January the sixth
According to the scholarly
Egyptians
The date of Christ’s death was thought
More important to the early
Christians
Rome selected Christ’s birth date to be
On the twenty fifth day of
December
To coincide with the old pagan festivals
Like that of Mithras and
Saturnalia
The sixth of January is Christmas day
For the apostolic church from
Armenia
But its the following day that’s Special
For the Orthodox Church of Russia
Faith is such a simple concept
It’s so simple
It’s just about belief
It’s so completely uncomplicated
You just have to believe
No strings attached
Just unconditionally believe
And if you do the world is your oyster
All your doubts and fears subside
When you accept his existence
His, hers its
The creator, the deity
The master puppeteer
Don’t analyse it
Don’t try to define it
To deconstruct it
Don’t worry about the Who the what or the why
Its doesn’t matter
Don’t worry about who the creator is
It doesn’t matter what race
What gender, what creed or what colour
Just accept it, embrace it
You still won’t be able to see it
But you’ll know its there
It’s totally invisible to your senses
Yet it connects with you at the core
With your essence, your soul
You can’t see it yet its wonders are all
around
You can’t hear it
Yet its sound fills the world
You can’t taste it
But it’s the spice of all life
You can’t smell it
But its exotic and heady fragrance is on
every breath of wind
And you can’t touch it
But it can be felt when it touches you
