It’s Christmas Day! This is a magical time of the year, especially for children. That’s certainly true for the Willards. Here’s a photo of us at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church on Christmas Eve. Joy and wonder seemed to fill the air on that holy night.
Inside the church, of course, we are reminded that love came down at Christmas in the birth of Jesus. I witnessed that on Christmas Eve as men, women, and children came forward to receive communion and in the Rector’s study with my family as we enjoyed a picnic there between services. It’s truly a special evening filled with awe.
Today it seems appropriate to reflect on Christmas in haiku. All you need is one verse with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, and five syllables in the third line. Mine refers to the late church service on Christmas Eve:
Christmas at Palmer —
Sing “O come, all ye faithful”
and watch incense rise.
Tumbleweed Almanac 
One of my high school friends wrote this haiku about the Moravian Lovefeast and Candlelight Service that was held at Friedland Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Christmas Day:
Christmas at Friedland:
Coffee, sweet bun, candlelight;
Celebrate His birth.
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A clergy spouse in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas wrote a haiku with a wonderful question in the middle line:
The presents unwrapped.
The end or the beginning?
His presence is here.
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One of my parishioners had this to say:
Celebrate His birth
by giving and receiving
Heaven’s Love come down.
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A friend from Yale Divinity School who lives in New England wrote:
Cold, grey, and raining —
Love Divine takes on our flesh
in a foggy world.
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Someone else wrote this:
Christmas leads to the
epiphany of the spring’s
eternal passion.
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Another Episcopal priest wrote this one:
Why doesn’t the cat
break the ornaments we hate
and not the best ones.
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That same Episcopal priest also wrote this one:
The Incarnation
is God revealing himself
in human nature.
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Magic in the air
Jesus’ birth is almost here
Peace be with us all.
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Christmas at Palmer
Four Christmas Eve services
gifts to Him & Houston
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