The Leavening Gift of Atonement
©2010 Susan Noyes Anderson (poem only)
The gift is blood and sacrifice
to free us all from sin.
The prize is God’s own kingdom,
ours to shun or enter in.
I am delighted to make these holiday poems available to you. They are gifts from my heart to anyone willing to accept them. My hope is that each holiday poem brings added meaning to someone’s Christmas or Easter, Valentine’s Day or Independence Day. Writing them has already brought added meaning to mine. (Poems for nearly every holiday are listed here. You may click specifically on Christmas Poems, Easter Poems, Patriotic Poems, and Thanksgiving Poems. (Please email a request for permission before using. Include full copyright information on every copy. For internet use, a link back to this website is required.)
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The gift is blood and sacrifice
to free us all from sin.
The prize is God’s own kingdom,
ours to shun or enter in.
Today we celebrate our troops,
whose valor must be praised.
Our nation is the legacy
of heroes, born and raised.
What song shall I sing for my mother? What key?
Which chords own the notes that will set her joy free?
Was psalm ever born that could raise her hopes high
as the million bright stars she has hung in my sky?
My mother taught me how to play
each note to form a song.
She showed me how to hold the bow
and keep my down stroke strong.
Leather sandals, dusty feet,
soles worn out in service.
Lessons taught, lessons learned;
stilled souls waiting, nervous.
To bathe soiled feet was but a servant’s lot,
eschewed by men whose station lent them grace.
These did not stoop to take a lowly place,
nor pause to wonder if, one day, they ought.
ignoring Lent
was never meant
the message simply wasn’t sent
Sometimes I dream our manger scene
is brought to life at night.
The darkness yields to shepherds’ fields
and one star, shining bright.