{"id":38738,"date":"2016-12-17T13:48:44","date_gmt":"2016-12-17T20:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=38738"},"modified":"2016-12-17T13:51:12","modified_gmt":"2016-12-17T20:51:12","slug":"38738","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/12\/38738.html","title":{"rendered":"A favorite poem at Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Mesa<\/a>
The Mesa Arizona Temple at Christmas (LDS.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cChristmas\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bells of waiting Advent ring,
\nThe Tortoise stove is lit again
\nAnd lamp-oil light across the night
\nHas caught the streaks of winter rain
\nIn many a stained-glass window sheen
\nFrom Crimson Lake to Hookers Green.<\/p>\n

The holly in the windy hedge
\nAnd round the Manor House the yew
\nWill soon be stripped to deck the ledge,
\nThe altar, font and arch and pew,
\nSo that the villagers can say
\n\u2018The church looks nice\u2019 on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

Provincial Public Houses blaze,
\nCorporation tramcars clang,
\nOn lighted tenements I gaze,
\nWhere paper decorations hang,
\nAnd bunting in the red Town Hall
\nSays \u2018Merry Christmas to you all\u2019.<\/p>\n

And London shops on Christmas Eve
\nAre strung with silver bells and flowers
\nAs hurrying clerks the City leave
\nTo pigeon-haunted classic towers,
\nAnd marbled clouds go scudding by
\nThe many-steepled London sky.<\/p>\n

And girls in slacks remember Dad,
\nAnd oafish louts remember Mum,
\nAnd sleepless children\u2019s hearts are glad.
\nAnd Christmas-morning bells say \u2018Come!\u2019
\nEven to shining ones who dwell
\nSafe in the Dorchester Hotel.<\/p>\n

And is it true,
\nThis most tremendous tale of all,
\nSeen in a stained-glass window\u2019s hue,
\nA Baby in an ox\u2019s stall ?
\nThe Maker of the stars and sea
\nBecome a Child on earth for me ?<\/p>\n

And is it true ? For if it is,
\nNo loving fingers tying strings
\nAround those tissued fripperies,
\nThe sweet and silly Christmas things,
\nBath salts and inexpensive scent
\nAnd hideous tie so kindly meant,<\/p>\n

No love that in a family dwells,
\nNo carolling in frosty air,
\nNor all the steeple-shaking bells
\nCan with this single Truth compare \u2013
\nThat God was man in Palestine
\nAnd lives today in Bread and Wine.<\/p>\n

(Sir John Betjeman)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cChristmas\u201d \u00a0 The bells of waiting Advent ring, The Tortoise stove is lit again And lamp-oil light across the night Has caught the streaks of winter rain In many a stained-glass window sheen From Crimson Lake to Hookers Green. The holly in the windy hedge And round the Manor House the yew Will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA favorite poem at Christmas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    "Christmas"   The bells of waiting Advent ring, The Tortoise stove is lit again And lamp-oil light across the night Has caught the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/12\/38738.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A 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