The Poinsetta sits on the mantel piece, red on green
Flowering for Christmas, cheerful and bright.
If neglected, its colour quickly fades.
If not carefully tended; if not loved and cherished,
It's hard to maintain and droops in sadness.
 
Our celebrations must continue.
Our hope and joy must remain alive.
And great, must be our expectation
For the truth of Christmas is amazing – not something to discard
When the razzmatazz dwindles and the tinsel’s thrown out
 
For something superficial always tries to supersede and tempt…
For we move fast, inexorably toward new manufactured distractions and fun!
Gifts, superfluous, devalued by new temptations, are cast aide
For a new busyness takes root.
 
And, yet, the gifts given by the Three Wise Men still hold their precious promise –
It never wanes, for they were given to the King in adoration, in humility, in thanks
and in truth.
 
Bethlehem's bright star never fades
For true light has a permanent glow –
To lead, to guide and to reveal its priceless worth.
Twinkling in the black void of materialism and consumer craving…
It can point to the grave when its light is ignored.
 
Red denotes the blood of the Gift of Life
Who bought us freedom and eternity.
Green, is the Branch of Life,
Still bearing fruit, past and present. And to come.
The dead wood of the Cross,
Unable to contain His might, power and promise
Is not just for a season, but forever…
 
 
I look at the Poinsetta’s fallen branch
Broken in transit, but still flowering.
Oh! See how it withers, as it struggles to reunite with its stem,
Needing the true root and root’s strength to survive and to grow –
‘To be rooted and grounded in love’.
(St Paul to the Ephesians 3:17)
 
The branch, fragile, always fragile –
Weak without the source of life.
No hope without a life-giving root
Created and sustained by Divine Love,
By the Gardener, extraordinary and perfect.
Cut off, it can only wither and die -
Discarded, thrown on the scrap heap, with options void.
 
Cherish the Root, cherish the Source
Neglect not, on the pain of death.
 
Christmas is not:
A snatched holiday, with ‘season’s greetings’, plastic presents, inflated balloons,
sugar-coated candy, robotic toys, battle strategy war games, computer killing
machines, political correctness, hollow laughter, empty promises, false affections,
mind-altering subversion and selfies gone mad.  
 
 
 
Christmas is:
The promise of new life, the hope of salvation,
A celebration of joy, the adoring of Christ, made man,
The hope of Jesus’ return, as we look at what our God has done –
And ponder on what is to come: for nothing is impossible to God.
 
Christ’s Mass is the anointing of Jesus, the Messiah, a true gift of hope for the world.
It is the holy communion of God with man, through the everlasting Gift of His
precious Son, who came to save us, for He is Our Father.
 
And He loves us.