The Little Child in Me

 

 

 

There is a little child in me

That long for Christmas time,

Months before this time arrives

Christmas is on my mind.

 

I have come to realize

It’s not so much about things,

It’s definitely not about parties

And getting to have a fling.

 

It’s not really about the eating

And looking kind of rotund

When all year I’ve been struggling

To get rid of the extra pounds.

 

It’s not about the Christmas lights

Well, maybe a little of that,

But it’s something more, I think,

That provides the crowning cap.

 

Definitely, the nativity story

Still stirs the heart and mind

As we take that Bethlehem journey

The wonderful Christ child to find.

 

 

Away in a Manger,

Once in Royal David’s City,

O Come to My Heart Lord Jesus,

These wonderful songs of nativity!

 

Coming closer to the point!

Yes, therein is the wonderful fact!

That this little child in me

Connects with that Divine act.

 

Bringing meaning to the lights

And to the bounteous food,

To this unique sense of goodwill

That goes with the Christmas mood.

 

So that it’s not any one thing

But an amalgamation of realities

That arouses that little child,

Yes!  It is the little child in me!

 

 

And it doesn’t matter, my friend,

That I am almost seven decades

For I have discovered the older I get,

The less this reality fades.

 

And so, like some people I know

The countdown is really on

And there is a sense re the fight of time

This Christmas will soon be gone.

 

So, from one Christ child to another,

Enjoy this festive season!

It’s the child in you and me that knows

Christ’s nativity is the reason.

 

While shepherds watch their flock

They saw a shining star

And wise men bow in great delight

Having journeyed from afar.

 

Two old ones past eight decades

Anticipated that Holy Child,

And the child in them became excited

When that moment arrived.

 

Like them there’s this child in me

That just longs for Christmas time

And months before December comes

Christmas is on my mind.

 

If there is one single regret I have,

It’s that the day passes so quickly

And just around the evening hours,

I feel profoundly melancholy.

 

 

Perhaps it’s what the disciples felt

When Jesus went away,

But he gave them the wonderful assurance

That he will be back someday.

 

And so, if my life be spared,

There’ll be another Christmas too

And that little child in me will rejoice

And hopefully in you too.

 

Stewart Russell © December 2, 2022