“Bethlehem at night,” Photo by Nancie Sill taken January 17, 2011. Used by permission.
Life is a sacred gift, and all the world’s children deserve to grow up in safety and security surrounded by love. Sadly, far too many children fall victim to the violence of poverty, food insecurity, war, civil unrest, human trafficking, sexual predation, gun violence, and more. Yet these are all our children. The human family is one family in spite of all the forces at work to tear it apart. As Christians reflect upon a child who came into this world to bring peace, we must ask ourselves if we are ready to welcome all the vulnerable ones of this world into our consciousness. For it is only in opening our hearts to the suffering of the little ones that we prepare our hearts to receive the gift of this holy child we await at Christmas.
Will You Welcome the Little One?
Bethlehem…city of David…
will you welcome the little one?
Give me reason to believe
you will protect the holy child –
the holy in all children – from harm.
Amid all the bad news –
economic woes
political corruption
a planet willfully plundered
wars and rumors of wars –
take care to use your humanity
fragile as it is
to ease the world’s pain.
O Bethlehem, open your eyes
to the holy one born among us.
Make room in your hearts
for this one who comes
as compassionate healer
justice teacher
abundant life giver
prince of peace.
Brother, Sister, Friend,
will you welcome the little one
sent from God?
Words (c) 2008 Mark Lloyd Richardson
dreamprayact 
The considerable, and tragic, ripple effect–is that so often these wounded/broken children (who survive) grow into adults who remain scarred and in need of love and healing. My prayers are for them, too.
Very true, Caddo. We all carry wounds, some much more than others, and healing is a lifelong process. Prayer is vital in opening us to the source of healing – a God who loves us with unimaginable love! Blessings, Mark
Amen. x Beautiful
Thanks, Stephanie. Christmas blessings, Mark
Mark, this is lovely. I woke up this morning and in doing my yoga practice, I thought, “I’ll bet Mark has a reflection to read this morning about Christmas.” What a beautiful reflection to wake up to. Yes, that we all wake up to the holy in each child — AND the child within each of us…connecting to this child…opening the heart to see and behold the holy in everyone. Thank you for your words today. Blessings, Lisa
When we see the holy in each child we will protect each child from harm. I pray for a world that moves closer to this vision of community and connection. Thanks for your kind words. Peace, Mark
OH Mark, YES YES YES. When we see the holy in each other…in ourselves too. We act to protect that child and hold him/her and care for him/her. Many blessings to you. Yes, this is how we move closer to a sense of compassionate community. Blessings, Lisa
Reblogged this on dreamprayact and commented:
Revisiting this post because the children of this world need all of us to be active in healing the planet, restoring the sense of community, and protecting their vulnerable hope for the future.