Looking Back
Friday December 20 2013
Looking Back: The Chosen Hour
A Christmas poem first published in December 1958
THE CHOSEN HOUR
The lamps of Bethlehem were lit
On that dark evening long ago;
And thoughtful shepherds on the plain
Were glad to see their gentle glow.
(One flickering lamp hangs overhead
To light a draughty cattle shed.)
It seemed as if the winter's night
Unmarked, unsung, would slowly die;
But God had touched this point in time,
And He, Himself, was standing by.
(Two weary travellers quietly wait
Beside a broken outhouse gate.)
In silence of the midnight hour,
God's glory shone like purest gold;
An angel stood upon the plain;
The shepherds trembled near the fold.
(A Child is born in the cattle shed
And lies in a humble manger bed.)
The Angel calmed the shepherd's fears,
By telling of a Saviour's birth;
Then heavenly hosts in rapture sang,
"Glory to God and peace on earth!"
(And the little lamp sheds a quiet glow
On the One True Light in the straw below.)
K. M. MACLEOD
Looking Back menu
