MERRY CHRISTMAS!
❧ ❧ ❧
Let the Stable Still Astonish
Let the stable still astonish:
Straw-dirt floor, dull eyes,
Dusty flanks of donkeys, oxen;
Crumbling, crooked walls;
No bed to carry that pain,
And then, the child,
Rag-wrapped, laid to cry
In a trough.
Who would have chosen this?
Who would have said: “Yes,
Let the God of all the heavens and earth
be born here, in this place.” ?
Who but the same God
Who stands in the darker, fouler rooms of our hearts
and says, “Yes, let the God
of Heaven and Earth
be born here —-
in this place.”
Leslie Leyland Fields
❧ ❧ ❧
from
The 2022 Elkin Community Chorus
60th Anniversary Christmas Concert
Tonya Smith Directing
Lillie Sawyers – Alto Solo
Amy Johnson – Piano
Sylvia Grace Smith – Cello
Let the Stable Still Astonish
composed by Dan Forrest, lyrics Leslie Leyland Fields
[Digitally recorded on December 4, 2022,
First Baptist Church of Elkin, North Carolina
by John Rees, GodsChild Records, Mt. Airy, NC
Digitally mastered and distributed by John Williams,
Engineer, Douglasville, GA]
❧ ❧ ❧
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
❧ ❧ ❧
❧ ❧ ❧
V E R S E ❦ I M A G E 
Merry Christmas, Bill . . . and to all a good day.
LikeLike
And to you and all your family, Sam. Love! —B
LikeLike
Merry and Joy to you and yours.
LikeLike
Lovely to hear from a fellow Surry Countian. Thanks for spreading the joy! —B
LikeLike
and this is the place…
Breathe Deep
Wild rabbits on frosty mornings, let rainbows
echo loudly in an empty field.
Visitations of seeds afloat, swallow angles,
wort-limbs.
Long, deep green heart-shaped leaves vine,
climb the wind.
Milkweed rustles by a passing bee’s wing.
Man-of-Earth, call the old sea on a distant
westering sun.
Slip low and crouching beside this narrow road.
Wild roses tossed, flattened under foot.
Creamy mock-orange and lilac bloom,
grace down the spiral air.
Coast in this roaring sea, crying everywhere.
Compass with peace
This is the place, where the deer sleep.
Thank you Bill for the Fields poem and your images. Had to share from Where the Deer Sleep, Peace on Earth
LikeLike
And Peace to you. Thanks, Jenny. —B
LikeLike
Season’s Greetings to you and all, Bill. Thank you for the beautiful music and poets’ words of peace and understanding. Rebecca
LikeLike
May we look forward to a year of peace prevailing. Blessings to you, Rebecca. —B
LikeLike
Thanks for transporting me to your special world like you so often do. I loved being there listening. Your choir is wonderful and the music so pretty. And your photos, especially the last two. So great!! Thanks for sharing. Hope you and your family have a terrific year ahead. Marylin
LikeLike
Sweet, thank you Marylin. Mom enjoyed that beater after I gave her permission to lick it (no eggs in the batter). —B
LikeLike
I am late looking at this, after Christmas when life slowly allows catch up time.
Love the accompanying photos!
LikeLike
Thanks for visiting, Anne. Having Mom all to myself in the kitchen for an hour was a fine present. —B
LikeLike