A small sticker, with a silhouette nativity scene and the words 'Christmas Blessings'

At the heart of Christmas is the story of a baby born in a barn/outhouse/stable/cave in a time of oppression and hardship, yet this was the greatest gift of love, when LOVE entered creation to transform it from within.  What better blessing could there be.

Unsurprisingly, I found another candle on which to stick my sticker - and I am enjoying its gentle warmth and flickering glow as I type.

I wonder what others will do with theirs?

Today's poem isn't the one I originally planned - I made a late change both to it, and to the accompanying photo; fortunately the prayer still seems to fit!

The poem is 'Adjustments' by R S Thomas, the first of three successive poems I have chosen by this Welsh writer.  Unfortunately, I can't find it online, but it is alluded to in this which uses the poem 'Absence' which I originally chose but, today, felt wasn't quite right.

Here is the prayer...

God who is present, even when it seems you are absent,

Hidden from sight, and sound and sense...

Yet, mysteriously, closer than our breathing.

When concepts fail, and words melt away

Help us to wait patiently

Trusting that, though we cannot discern it,

You  are with us always

Amen

Today's gift was a small roll of Love Heart sweets - a childhood memory stirred of vivid colours (no more) and amusing messages.

The symbolism is more than the gift itself - half a dozen sugary tablets of themselves mean little.  But love, and the 'sweet nothings' that some forms of love evoke, are worth contemplating - if only for long enough for one sugary message to dissolve in the mouth!

Today's poem was 'We grow accustomed to the Dark' by Emily Dickinson, which can be readily found online e.g. here

The image is a view along Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, at about 6:30 a.m., from Charing Cross.

The prayer:

God who gives us the gifts of day and night,

Who blesses and inhabits both darkness and light,

As we pause, waiting for our vision to adjust,

Grant us the courage to take the first step,

However tentative it may be,

And then, to walk more boldly,

Almost straight, into life, with you

Amen

Today's gift was a small, plain wooden heart, and an invitation to write on a message to ourselves.

God loves us with a never-ending, ever-lasting love - so that's what I opted for.

In 'love' week we try to be kind and gentle with ourselves and each other - because we are all worth it.