~A CHRISTMAS POEM FOR THE YOUNG AND THE OLD

Sermon in a Stocking
~By Ellen A. Jewett~

The supper is over, the hearth is swept,
   And in the wood-fire's glow,
The children cluster to hear a tale
   Of the time so long ago.

When Grandmamma's hair was golden brown
   And the warm blood came and went
O'er the face that could scarce have been sweeter then
   Than now, in its rich content.

The face is wrinkled and careworn now,
   And the golden hair is gray,
But the light that shone in the young girl's eyes
   Has never gone away.

And her needles catch the firelight
   As in and out they go,
With the clicking music that Grandma loves,
   Shaping the stocking toe.

And the waking children love it, too,
   For they know the stocking song
Brings many a tale to Grandma's mind
   Which they shall hear ere long.

But it brings no story of olden times
   To Grandma's heart to-night;
Only a ditty, quaint and short,
   Is sung by the needles bright.

"Life is a stocking," Grandma says,
   "And yours is just begun;
And I am knitting the toe of mine,
   And my work is almost done.

"With merry hearts we begin to knit,
   And the ribbing is almost play;
Some are gay colors and some are white,
   And some are ashen gray;

"But most are made of many a hue,
   With many a stitch set wrong,
And many a row to be sadly ripped
   Ere the whole is fair and strong.

"There are long plain spaces, without a break,
   That in youth are hard to bear,
And many a weary tear is dropped
   As we fashion the heel with care.

"But the saddest, happiest time is that
   We court and yet we shun,
When our Heavenly Father breaks the thread
   And says that our work is done."

The children came to say good-night,
  With tears in their bright young eyes,
While in Grandma's lap, with a broken thread,
   The finished stocking lies.

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"Get up from your seats before the white-haired, and give honour to the old, and let the fear of your God be before you: I am the Lord." 

~Leviticus 19:32 (BBE)~

"I will be your God throughout your lifetime -- until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you."

~Isaiah 46:4 (NLT)~

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