As Christmas approaches, and the end of the year draws close, thank you to everyone who has taken the time in 2024 to read one of these blogs. As always, much has happened in the past twelve months, not least in those places still torn apart by violence and destruction. Our Christmas carols arm us not with weapons, but with the foolish hope of peace. The only humane, sane and holy hope which befits the dignity of creatures made in the image of God: and for whom in turn, and with astonishing grace, God chose to become human.

Oh hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing!

From the Carol ‘It Came Upon the Midnight Clear’

A Modern Nativity by Miles David Moore

A noise at midnight in my garden shed
Drove the dog nuts. We stumbled out to see
A newborn baby sleeping peacefully
Inside a rag-stuffed wheelbarrow bed.
His mom and daddy stared at me with dread –
Two shabby working folks society
Cut loose. The single light bulb, hanging free,
Gathered a glow around the baby’s head.

What happened next? I’m not sure I can say.
I can’t describe just how I felt, or feel.
I heard a voice intoning, ‘You can stay’.
It offered them some blankets and a meal.
The dog stopped barking, which is not his way.
I had no earthly clue a dog could kneel.

Published in The Poet’s Quest for God: 21st Century Poems of Faith, Doubt and Wonder Ed. by Brennan, O., Swift, T. with Davio, K. and Cate Myddleton-Evans. Eyewear Publishing 2016.