From J.R. Miller 1910
On this
Christmas Day, my Father, I come to you with a glad heart. Help me to observe
the day fitly, with loving remembrance of the lowly birth in Bethlehem
May this be a
true Christmas in my heart. Take away all unbelief, all bitter thought and
feeling, all resentment and unforgiveness, all unholy desire—and give me
love—love that is patient and kind, that is not provoked, that thinks no evil,
that seeks not its own. Save me from all selfishness. While I gratefully
receive the Christmas blessings and enjoy them—may my heart be opened toward
all the world in sympathy and kindly interest. Make my life a song, and may I
go everywhere with joy on my face and on my lips.
I pray for all
those to whom Christmas brings gladness, that their joy may be enriched by
thoughts of your divine love. I pray for the multitudes of little children
everywhere, to whom the day means so much, who have been waiting for it so long
in eager expectancy, and who will be happy with their gifts and with the love
that blesses them.
I pray also for
those to whom the day brings little of joy—the very poor, the lonely and
solitary; those far away from their homes, whose hearts will not be warmed by
human love; prisoners in their prisons; sailors on the sea; and those who know
not you. I pray for the sick in their homes and in the hospitals, that in their
suffering they may be comforted by the remembrance of your divine compassion. I
pray for the bereft and sorrowing, to whom Christmas brings painful memories,
making more real their sense of loss. May they find comfort in the thought of Christ's
unfailing love.
May this glad
Christmas leave my life richer and tenderer. May your divine love henceforth be
more real to me. May I be sure of your divine care and guidance. May my heart
be warmer toward my fellows, tenderer in its sympathy with human need and
sorrow, and may I live a gentler, more kindly life—because of this day's
revealing of your wondrous love. Grant these favors through Jesus Christ. Amen.
