Christmas

No sheep in the folds,
No star in the west,
No Babe lulled to sleep
On His young mother's breast.

But sheep of God's flock
Straying far from His love,
And a glorified Man,
Interceding above.

No gold and no myrrh,
No sweet frankincense,
But the gift of the heart
When the sinner repents.

No music on earth
From the angelic bands;
But the praise and the prayer
Of the saved of all lands.

Apart from the Christ-
No joy at His birth,
Though merry and gay
All the feasting on earth.

The candles burn out,
And the feasting is done;
But the glory of heaven
Shines forth in God's Son.

by Betty Stam

(Written shortly before her martyrdom in China in 1934)