Merry Christmas

(photo of a cherub from a church in Rutland - post can be found here)

Merry Christmas to all blog readers and commenters out there.  I hope that you have a lovely and peaceful time.

With all the sad and awful things still happening in the world, I am reminded of part one of my favourite Christmas carols,"It came upon the midnight clear" written by Edmund Sears in 1849 (thanks to Wikipedia).

"Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man at war with man, hears not
The love song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing."

The other thing in my head now is part of the Desiderata ("Desiderata" (Latin: "desired things") is a 1927 prose poem by American writer Max Ehrmann - with thanks to Wikipedia again).

"...And whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy."

Good advice to us all in this Christmas season and beyond.