Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long:
And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.
Prayer
Give us, O God, the vision which can see Your love in the world in spite of human failure.
Give us the faith to trust Your goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness.
Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts.
And show us what each one of us can do to set forward the coming of the day of universal peace.
— Frank Borman, Apollo 8 space mission, 1968.
Psalm 103:1-7, Scottish Psalter 1650, words by Francis Rouse, tune: Ostend, by Lowell Mason (1792-1872).
Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them,
calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing." Isaiah 45:25-26