GATEWAY BOOK REVIEWS

"If I could work my will," said Scrooge indignantly, "every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!" Charles Dickens ~ A Christmas Carol

RICK CROUCHER ~ CHRISTMAS PASSED.....more

CHRISTMAS OF LONG AGO by PHYLLIS OWEN

As Christmas comes round again I thought I would like to share with you one of my most precious memories. It was the first Christmas after war was declared. I was about eight at the time and living in South Africa. My mother told me that the previous evening, Christmas Eve, she had had a wonderful experience. It was midnight and we were all asleep. She had just finished the preparations for the following day and about to go to bed when she heard someone singing.

Still the night, holy the night!

Sleeps the world, hid from sight.

Hurrying to the lounge window she saw a young black woman standing next to a tree, eyes lifted heavenwards. Moonlight lit up the whole of the surrounding area, and the world seemed to be standing still. A sensation of peace came over her as she listened enraptured until the young woman had finished the carol and walked away. For a few moments she stood there, spellbound. Then, with a light step, she went to bed knowing that the treasured memory of that night, with its message of peace and goodwill, would remain with her always.

For many years to follow, every Christmas Eve my mother repeated this story to us. That is why it is still so fresh in my mind.

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