Graham, what a beautiful poem. Not having children to pass experiences or traditions on to them, I feel blessed to have friends or be led however, to pass on my experiences to others that may need a helping hand or just giving them some encouragement to know that someone does care.
Like you, the dawn or early morning is that special time for me. I can remember Christmas mornings growing up, I was always the first one around the tree, but I had to wait on everyone else to be in the room before I started opening up any presents. The early morning or pre-dawn hours are still a special time for me to have my quiet alone time with God to be in His word and prayer/meditation time. It just starts the day off the proper way for me and keeps me totally grounded for the day for whatever happens.
To be able to spend Christmas with my brother and cousins now that my parents have passed on is so important. While change has taken place due to their loss, you grow from that, start new traditions and ask God to help guide you through those times. The blessings far outweigh the loss. The memories are always there, and those are cherished and cannot be taken away.
Merry Christmas to you Graham, and to the entire Time Has Come community. You guys are the best, and I love and appreciate every one of you. 🙏🙂
Oh, Graham, thank you very much this time it's really easy, my magical moment actually happens every week on Friday afternoon, when I light the Shabbat candles, and in an instant, all the hustle and bustle stops and there is silence, because in the 25 hours ahead of us we disconnect from the phones and screens and go to pray in the synagogue and then we sit for a family meal, after which we sit and talk, read a newspaper or a book or play board games, and the next morning we wake up to the silence outside and the chirping of the birds, because our entire environment observes the Shabbat therefore there are no cars, no music, and no work, only peace and quiet, and go to pray again and return to a family lunch and go rest and then in the evening when Shabbat comes out 25 hours after it came in ,we go back to our routine with the phones, screens, music and work, until next week. And of course our children experience this thing with us and I wish them to want to continue it all the time.
Graham, the poem this morning made me smile and warmed my heart as I recalled Christmas memories and traditions. There are two special traditions from my childhood.
On Christmas Eve we would attend the candlelight service at our family church. My favorite part of the service was the lighting of everyone’s candle. There was a stillness in the sanctuary as one by one the wick of each candle was lit, the lights were turned off, the glow of the candles filled the sanctuary as we sang Silent Night. Some of the most memorable times were when we would come out of church to a gently falling snow blanketing the ground creating quietness.
Growing up on a farm there were early morning chores to be done, even on Christmas. My Dad would be out doing the chores so my brothers, my sister and I would wait in the kitchen for Dad to finish the chores. We couldn’t go past the kitchen until Dad came in, had coffee and breakfast before we could even see the tree and open presents. As I recall those mornings, sometimes it seemed like Dad was the slowest eater in the world!
To this day the Christmas Eve candlelight service and singing Silent Night warms my heart and brings tears to my eyes. It’s a tradition that continues in my family.
When my kids were little, we would make them wait until we had morning coffee before the excitement of opening gifts would begin. My kids have continued this “ waiting” with their kids. As I’ve gotten older, I like sitting with just the tree lights on, take in the quiet of morning stillness with a cup of coffee and give thanks for life’s blessings.
Thanks for the beautiful message today. Merry Christmas to you and your family, Graham.
Graham, let me start by saying you look so peaceful and relaxed this morning. Must be those dips in the ocean!!! The view behind you of the rippling ocean waves is beautiful!! When I was very young and my younger sister and I still believed in Santa my parents had a little different tradition. Santa decorated our tree. Remember being so excited could hardly relax to sleep. My Dad brought in the tree,we went to bed. In the early QUIET morning we awoke to a lighted ,beautifully decorated Christmas tree,plus all the gifts from Santa!!!
My husband and I didn't continue that tradition. We all decorated the tree together, except for the icicles. My husband put them on one at a time and only he could do that. The excitement of Christmas was so multiplied with young children who still believed in Santa.My youngest daughter was 6 years younger than the second. When the two older girl didn't believe in Santa anymore we had to make sure they didn't ruin it for their baby sister. They didn't, and it was so much fun to see how they interacted with her to keep the excitement flowing. My husband would be up early with his movie camera behind the tree to capture all those special moments. Awe the magic of the dawn!!!! There is nothing to compare with the jubilation of young children on Christmas morning. Merry Christmas to you, Graham. Glad you will be spending it with your beautiful family!!!❤️🎄❤️🎄❤️
Each day that begins we have the magical feeling that it is a miracle...
The Miracle of Life!!! Being able to breathe, feel, smile, be grateful...
Being able to feel in your heart the sweet feeling that is love.
Each dawn renews hope, faith and desire to follow the path of love towards happiness.
Graham, I didn't have traditions in my childhood, I didn't have gifts, foods, or celebrations to teach my children... I learned from life, that the moments to be passed on are those that we live and keep in our hearts... Experience of learning and teachings that we share with relatives and friends... We are beings guided by a cosmic energy, a greater Being, whom we love and respect, who directs us to follow the light of dawn...
*Graham, I wish you Merry Christmas, that the next year will be more productive than the one that is ending...💫
I wish my friends in this community, Happy Holidays and great achievements..
Good morning GW and to all my THC family.What a beautiful poem that you wrote on this time of the year.When I was a child we as a family go to church together.We celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. After church we go home and have a festive meal as a family I have 4 siblings.I grew up fatherless my father died during WW11.We go sit down around the Christmas tree and open our gifts.After we finish opening our gifts we wait for our godfathers and godmothers to deliver our gifts.I remember going to the streets to give food to the homeless and less fortunate children.I also gave my old toys to them.Merry Christmas to all my THC family God bless us all as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.Graham have a blessed Christmas enjoy with your family and friends.
I think what I love so much is when it has turned to darkness outside. Just the lights of the Christmas Tree and the fire going in the fireplace lighten the room. Its very quiet. This is so perfect. This is a great season.
A tradition which is a favorite Christmas memory for me was going to Midnight Mass. I grew up in a small community. Each year our small church was filled with people from all religions. After mass my parents invited family and friends over for breakfast. Sometimes Santa came while we were at church and there were years which we had to wait until morning to find what Santa left. Special times🥰
Sleep in my brothers room and wait for Santa to come!! I just remember the Christmas lights shining through the window and the butterflies in my stomach!!
Oh Graham, you have given us such a special gift with this beautiful poem! Thank you! As child my brother and I always wore our pajamas under our clothes so when it time to go to bed we would save time getting in the bed! Silly? Absolutely! What did it matter because we had to change clothes to go to church got Christmas Eve services. My older sister would remind us of that fact often throughout the day! But talking about the stillness and quite time of anticipation was always a favorite time of mine. My dad and I would go outside around midnight on Christmas Eve and just listen to our surroundings! It was like listening to the earth breathe. So many wonderful memories! We are so blessed to have them. I hope you, Graham, and your family have a very Merry Christmas and a beautiful time together during this holiday season!
Traditionally, no matter where we are in the world, family members light a candle on Christmas Eve at midnight to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, The Light of the World. It is always a magic moment of complete PEACE in the darkness that brings us closer together. Merry Christmas, Everyone!
When I was a child my parents were divorced, but mom, every year, followed one tradition for us (my sister and I ) that is still special to me today. She would make a thermos of hot chocolate, pick up my grandmother at her house, and the 4 of us would ride around our town one evening taking in all the Christmas lights and decorations - and there were a lot! It was a simple thing to do, but magical to us. To this day I still love to see all the lights on the houses and the brightly lit trees in the neighbor's windows. We did the same ritual with our kids when they were young.
I love that you want to again experience those special holiday moments someday with your own children. So I wish that for you. It's those moments that matter the most and you remember forever.
My memories of Christmas are held deep within my heart. It’s a place where Hope lives. Loneliness melts away in the presence of the dawn and the anticipation of knowing that for that beautiful moment, my heart is at peace.
This is very beautiful calming poem Graham, our Christmas is not quite at all.As we start celebrating on Christmas Eve, we attend Christmas Eve mass at midnight then we eat we call it Noche Buena. We then exchange gifts that we each made and by morning we go to our orphanage to serve them breakfast and handed them gifts to each children. I get to experience this Christmas as we are home and I am overjoyed all of this. I still practice this with our son and our grandchildren and we sponsors family baskets meals during Christmas. We do give gifts to each of our grandchildren but not material things. Their parents do enough for them buying the toys they have ask for. Today I love to be still enough to hear a direction from above, allow myself moments to reconnect and not react in haste. Breath and know that this day is a gift and one full of promises. Today I am still and at peace hoping our trip will be smooth as we are facing negative temperatures.Traveling is exhausting during winter season ,flights delayed and missing connecting flights but once we cross the international I hope and pray it will be a smooth sailing. Merry Christmas Graham and to your family.
Ahhhhh Graham! I know exactly what you are talking about. When I was a kid I had two places that I'd go to enjoy this calm, this peace. One place was on top of our old greenhouse roof! I'd found an easy way to climb up there that no one knew about and I'd climb up there and just sit awhile. Soak up some sun and enjoy the warmth and solitude.
The second place was on horseback. Sometimes I'd grab a moment and ride out alone. Just me and my horse. We had several wooded areas around our neighborhood that I could go to ride alone. Just me and the sound of my horses hooves along the trails. It was very relaxing!
Now this makes me think of a book that my Grandkids have in their little library of books in California. I think its called The Owl Moon or something like that. And it's about a kid and the Dad going out at night to find this Owl by the light of the moon. While reading this book to them I get that calm, peaceful feeling from the words and pictures in the book!
But for now it's my meditation spot here on our place where I can go and feel that quiet, calm, peaceful feelings. It's off away from the house and most of the animals. Amongst the trees by our pond on the south bank of the pond. The dogs will go with me but except for my little Chi, the others will wonder off. Chi lays down beside me or on me and she will become very quiet. I can hear the breeze in the trees but little else unless a frog jumps into the pond or a cow wanders down to see what were doing. THAT is the most peaceful spot here on our place. No road noise, no cattle or horses bothering us for treats. Just me and my Chi dog and a peaceful feeling.
Graham, what a beautiful poem. Not having children to pass experiences or traditions on to them, I feel blessed to have friends or be led however, to pass on my experiences to others that may need a helping hand or just giving them some encouragement to know that someone does care.
Like you, the dawn or early morning is that special time for me. I can remember Christmas mornings growing up, I was always the first one around the tree, but I had to wait on everyone else to be in the room before I started opening up any presents. The early morning or pre-dawn hours are still a special time for me to have my quiet alone time with God to be in His word and prayer/meditation time. It just starts the day off the proper way for me and keeps me totally grounded for the day for whatever happens.
To be able to spend Christmas with my brother and cousins now that my parents have passed on is so important. While change has taken place due to their loss, you grow from that, start new traditions and ask God to help guide you through those times. The blessings far outweigh the loss. The memories are always there, and those are cherished and cannot be taken away.
Merry Christmas to you Graham, and to the entire Time Has Come community. You guys are the best, and I love and appreciate every one of you. 🙏🙂
Oh, Graham, thank you very much this time it's really easy, my magical moment actually happens every week on Friday afternoon, when I light the Shabbat candles, and in an instant, all the hustle and bustle stops and there is silence, because in the 25 hours ahead of us we disconnect from the phones and screens and go to pray in the synagogue and then we sit for a family meal, after which we sit and talk, read a newspaper or a book or play board games, and the next morning we wake up to the silence outside and the chirping of the birds, because our entire environment observes the Shabbat therefore there are no cars, no music, and no work, only peace and quiet, and go to pray again and return to a family lunch and go rest and then in the evening when Shabbat comes out 25 hours after it came in ,we go back to our routine with the phones, screens, music and work, until next week. And of course our children experience this thing with us and I wish them to want to continue it all the time.
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing this Becky 🙌🏼
You're welcome🙏
Graham, the poem this morning made me smile and warmed my heart as I recalled Christmas memories and traditions. There are two special traditions from my childhood.
On Christmas Eve we would attend the candlelight service at our family church. My favorite part of the service was the lighting of everyone’s candle. There was a stillness in the sanctuary as one by one the wick of each candle was lit, the lights were turned off, the glow of the candles filled the sanctuary as we sang Silent Night. Some of the most memorable times were when we would come out of church to a gently falling snow blanketing the ground creating quietness.
Growing up on a farm there were early morning chores to be done, even on Christmas. My Dad would be out doing the chores so my brothers, my sister and I would wait in the kitchen for Dad to finish the chores. We couldn’t go past the kitchen until Dad came in, had coffee and breakfast before we could even see the tree and open presents. As I recall those mornings, sometimes it seemed like Dad was the slowest eater in the world!
To this day the Christmas Eve candlelight service and singing Silent Night warms my heart and brings tears to my eyes. It’s a tradition that continues in my family.
When my kids were little, we would make them wait until we had morning coffee before the excitement of opening gifts would begin. My kids have continued this “ waiting” with their kids. As I’ve gotten older, I like sitting with just the tree lights on, take in the quiet of morning stillness with a cup of coffee and give thanks for life’s blessings.
Thanks for the beautiful message today. Merry Christmas to you and your family, Graham.
Graham, let me start by saying you look so peaceful and relaxed this morning. Must be those dips in the ocean!!! The view behind you of the rippling ocean waves is beautiful!! When I was very young and my younger sister and I still believed in Santa my parents had a little different tradition. Santa decorated our tree. Remember being so excited could hardly relax to sleep. My Dad brought in the tree,we went to bed. In the early QUIET morning we awoke to a lighted ,beautifully decorated Christmas tree,plus all the gifts from Santa!!!
My husband and I didn't continue that tradition. We all decorated the tree together, except for the icicles. My husband put them on one at a time and only he could do that. The excitement of Christmas was so multiplied with young children who still believed in Santa.My youngest daughter was 6 years younger than the second. When the two older girl didn't believe in Santa anymore we had to make sure they didn't ruin it for their baby sister. They didn't, and it was so much fun to see how they interacted with her to keep the excitement flowing. My husband would be up early with his movie camera behind the tree to capture all those special moments. Awe the magic of the dawn!!!! There is nothing to compare with the jubilation of young children on Christmas morning. Merry Christmas to you, Graham. Glad you will be spending it with your beautiful family!!!❤️🎄❤️🎄❤️
Graham... From my heart to your heart...
Thanks for the wonderful poem...
The Dawn...
Each day that begins we have the magical feeling that it is a miracle...
The Miracle of Life!!! Being able to breathe, feel, smile, be grateful...
Being able to feel in your heart the sweet feeling that is love.
Each dawn renews hope, faith and desire to follow the path of love towards happiness.
Graham, I didn't have traditions in my childhood, I didn't have gifts, foods, or celebrations to teach my children... I learned from life, that the moments to be passed on are those that we live and keep in our hearts... Experience of learning and teachings that we share with relatives and friends... We are beings guided by a cosmic energy, a greater Being, whom we love and respect, who directs us to follow the light of dawn...
*Graham, I wish you Merry Christmas, that the next year will be more productive than the one that is ending...💫
I wish my friends in this community, Happy Holidays and great achievements..
With Love... India 💙 🇧🇷
Peace and light to all 💥
Thank you Graham... I loved it.
I'm very happy with your like.
Good morning GW and to all my THC family.What a beautiful poem that you wrote on this time of the year.When I was a child we as a family go to church together.We celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. After church we go home and have a festive meal as a family I have 4 siblings.I grew up fatherless my father died during WW11.We go sit down around the Christmas tree and open our gifts.After we finish opening our gifts we wait for our godfathers and godmothers to deliver our gifts.I remember going to the streets to give food to the homeless and less fortunate children.I also gave my old toys to them.Merry Christmas to all my THC family God bless us all as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.Graham have a blessed Christmas enjoy with your family and friends.
@ Irene thank you for liking my comment I am blessed to have you as my friend.
Thank you GW for liking my comment I am excited to video chat with you on the 29 I am nervous and excited though.
@ Marsha Cullen thank you for liking my comment God bless you
This was a reflection to help us remember the sweetness of our pasts. So great to have them in my heart.
I think what I love so much is when it has turned to darkness outside. Just the lights of the Christmas Tree and the fire going in the fireplace lighten the room. Its very quiet. This is so perfect. This is a great season.
A tradition which is a favorite Christmas memory for me was going to Midnight Mass. I grew up in a small community. Each year our small church was filled with people from all religions. After mass my parents invited family and friends over for breakfast. Sometimes Santa came while we were at church and there were years which we had to wait until morning to find what Santa left. Special times🥰
Ah yes, I loved going to midnight mass as well. 🙏🏼
Good morning Graham! Beautiful poem!
On Christmas Eve my sister and I would
Sleep in my brothers room and wait for Santa to come!! I just remember the Christmas lights shining through the window and the butterflies in my stomach!!
Such great memories!!!
Merry Christmas Graham!! 🙏🏻🌲🎅🏼
Oh Graham, you have given us such a special gift with this beautiful poem! Thank you! As child my brother and I always wore our pajamas under our clothes so when it time to go to bed we would save time getting in the bed! Silly? Absolutely! What did it matter because we had to change clothes to go to church got Christmas Eve services. My older sister would remind us of that fact often throughout the day! But talking about the stillness and quite time of anticipation was always a favorite time of mine. My dad and I would go outside around midnight on Christmas Eve and just listen to our surroundings! It was like listening to the earth breathe. So many wonderful memories! We are so blessed to have them. I hope you, Graham, and your family have a very Merry Christmas and a beautiful time together during this holiday season!
Love this. Thanks for sharing. 🙏🏼
Traditionally, no matter where we are in the world, family members light a candle on Christmas Eve at midnight to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, The Light of the World. It is always a magic moment of complete PEACE in the darkness that brings us closer together. Merry Christmas, Everyone!
When I was a child my parents were divorced, but mom, every year, followed one tradition for us (my sister and I ) that is still special to me today. She would make a thermos of hot chocolate, pick up my grandmother at her house, and the 4 of us would ride around our town one evening taking in all the Christmas lights and decorations - and there were a lot! It was a simple thing to do, but magical to us. To this day I still love to see all the lights on the houses and the brightly lit trees in the neighbor's windows. We did the same ritual with our kids when they were young.
I love that you want to again experience those special holiday moments someday with your own children. So I wish that for you. It's those moments that matter the most and you remember forever.
Merry Christmas Graham.
My memories of Christmas are held deep within my heart. It’s a place where Hope lives. Loneliness melts away in the presence of the dawn and the anticipation of knowing that for that beautiful moment, my heart is at peace.
Love that Kimberly. Thanks for sharing 🙏🏼
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.
This is very beautiful calming poem Graham, our Christmas is not quite at all.As we start celebrating on Christmas Eve, we attend Christmas Eve mass at midnight then we eat we call it Noche Buena. We then exchange gifts that we each made and by morning we go to our orphanage to serve them breakfast and handed them gifts to each children. I get to experience this Christmas as we are home and I am overjoyed all of this. I still practice this with our son and our grandchildren and we sponsors family baskets meals during Christmas. We do give gifts to each of our grandchildren but not material things. Their parents do enough for them buying the toys they have ask for. Today I love to be still enough to hear a direction from above, allow myself moments to reconnect and not react in haste. Breath and know that this day is a gift and one full of promises. Today I am still and at peace hoping our trip will be smooth as we are facing negative temperatures.Traveling is exhausting during winter season ,flights delayed and missing connecting flights but once we cross the international I hope and pray it will be a smooth sailing. Merry Christmas Graham and to your family.
Ahhhhh Graham! I know exactly what you are talking about. When I was a kid I had two places that I'd go to enjoy this calm, this peace. One place was on top of our old greenhouse roof! I'd found an easy way to climb up there that no one knew about and I'd climb up there and just sit awhile. Soak up some sun and enjoy the warmth and solitude.
The second place was on horseback. Sometimes I'd grab a moment and ride out alone. Just me and my horse. We had several wooded areas around our neighborhood that I could go to ride alone. Just me and the sound of my horses hooves along the trails. It was very relaxing!
Now this makes me think of a book that my Grandkids have in their little library of books in California. I think its called The Owl Moon or something like that. And it's about a kid and the Dad going out at night to find this Owl by the light of the moon. While reading this book to them I get that calm, peaceful feeling from the words and pictures in the book!
But for now it's my meditation spot here on our place where I can go and feel that quiet, calm, peaceful feelings. It's off away from the house and most of the animals. Amongst the trees by our pond on the south bank of the pond. The dogs will go with me but except for my little Chi, the others will wonder off. Chi lays down beside me or on me and she will become very quiet. I can hear the breeze in the trees but little else unless a frog jumps into the pond or a cow wanders down to see what were doing. THAT is the most peaceful spot here on our place. No road noise, no cattle or horses bothering us for treats. Just me and my Chi dog and a peaceful feeling.