"Spoiled" Christmas

How I dreamed of spending with my family A Christmas evening blessed and bright: That all would gather at the table grand, With candles flickering, crackling in the light.

A tree adorned in red and gold so fair, And gingerbread house scents perfume the home, An evergreen wreath, tinsel everywhere, And gifts await their time, placed up high at home.

But everything, alas, went not the way That I myself had pictured in my dreams. The potatoes burned—oh, that's just small, I'd say, Yet bitter did become each dish, it seems.

And then it got worse—37 and 6, The fever rose in our youngest one, We have the medicine for viruses that fix, But Masha chose to guard her when it's done.

So husband, sister, children—all arranged Around their places after prayer was said. But children found the table talk so strange, And to their computers they were drawn instead.

We opened up the gospel's blessed word, How in Bethlehem was the Infant born, But little ones could hardly bear what's heard, They longed to play, away from talk so worn.

The lights went out, and firelight's gentle glow Beside the hearth illuminates each face. The story sounds, and once again I know My daughter's tears will show her tender grace.

But then the boys began to fight and scold, To quarrel in a corner, quite unkind. And this made my poor aching heart feel cold: You argue on a holiday so fine...

We turned the lights back on and gave them all The presents we had purchased long before, But not to everyone could I enthrall— Some expectations were not met, and more.

They all dispersed, and in the silence deep, A sadness gently held my aching heart, Grief touched my soul—I felt so far from sleep— That all had turned out not as from the start.

I started thinking: what if I could see That someone caught a cold and got the flu, That children quarreled there quite carelessly, That some did not pray with their whole heart true.

And you know what? It did not matter then How many times I had to speak with care, The Christmas tree that gladdened mortal men... Faded to background, losing all its flair.

And suddenly became so clear and light: God was with us throughout the whole evening. Glory to Thee, Lord, for Christmas night! Thou promised to be with us, never fleeing.

Nothing can darken, friends, I now believe, The wondrous feast of our Lord's birth so blessed. There's no way Christmas can be in reprieve, If in it Christ's Incarnation you've confessed.

It matters not how decorated was your home, If rich or modest was the food you ate. What matters is that Christ has made known, And He still saves our souls to this very date.