Beggar's Rhyme: A Blogger as Beggar

O Christmas is coming,

The geese are getting fat,

Won't you please put a penny

In a poor man's hat?

If you haven't got a penny

A ha'penny will do.

If you haven't got a ha'penny

Then God bless you!

Author Unknown

Thank you for reading this post. This blogger, this poor man, is now passing the hat among his readers. If enjoy reading this blog and would like to make a donation of $1.00 (100 pennies) or more to support my work on this blog -- and to help me pay my monthly bills -- will you please send your donation via  PayPal to oldelway02@duck.com? As Proverbs 28:27 (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition) says, "Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing." God bless you! I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

A Christmas Poem on Sin and Redemption

I have quoted the final two lines in each of the second, fourth, seventh and ninth stanzas below from "The Holly and the Ivy," a fifteenth-century English carol. The quotation in the fifth stanza below is from verse 15 in chapter 1 of the First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy (King James Version).

From the letters of

The name of what month can be

Formed a word of six

Letters that means "to free from

The consequences of sin"?

From the letters of

The name DECEMBER can be

Formed the word REDEEM.

"And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ

To be our sweet Saviour."

From the letters of

The name DECEMBER can be

Formed a verb of six

Letters that means "from sin and

Damnation to deliver."

From the letters of

The name DECEMBER can be

Formed the verb REDEEM.

"And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ

To do poor sinners good."

"This is a faithful

Saying, and worthy of all

Acceptation," wrote

Paul, "that Christ Jesus came into

The world to save sinners."

From the letters of

The name DECEMBER can be

Formed a word of six

Letters that means "to free from

The consequences of sin."

From the letters of

The name DECEMBER can be

Formed the word REDEEM..

"And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ

On Christmas in the morn."

From the letters of

The name DECEMBER can be

Formed a verb of six

Letters that means "from sin and

Damnation to deliver>"

From the letters of

The name DECEMBER can be

Formed the verb REDEEM.

"And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ

For to redeem us all."

Thanksgiving Day, 2025: "We Gather Together"

WE GATHER TOGETHER

Netherlands folk hymn; translated by Theodore Baker

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;

He chastens and hastens His will to make known;

The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing,

Sing praises to His name: He forgets not His own.

Beside is to guide us, our God with us joining,

Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine;

So from the beginning the fight we were winning:

Thou, Lord, wast at our side, all glory be Thine!

We all do extol Thee, Thou Leader triumphant,

And pray that Thou still our Defender wilt be.

Let Thy congregation escape tribulation:

Thy name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!

The Wayfaring Stranger

THE WAYFARING STRANGER

Anonymous

I am a poor wayfaring stranger,

While traveling through this world below;

There is no sickness, toil, nor danger

In that bright world to which I go.

I'm going there to meet my father,

I'm going there no more to roam;

I am just going over Jordan,

I am just going over home.

I know dark clouds will gather o'er me,

I know my pathway's rough and steep;

But golden fields lie out before me,

Where weary eyes no more shall weep.

I'm going there to see my mother,

She said she'd meet me when I come;

I am just going over Jordan,

I am just going over home.

I want to sing salvation's story

In concert with the blood-washed hand;

I want to wear a crown of glory,

When I get home to that good land.

I'm going there to see my classmates,

Who passed before me one by one;

I am just going over Jordan,

I am just going over home.

I'll soon be free from every trial,

This form will rest beneath the sod;

I'll drop the cross of self-denial,

And enter in my home with God.

I'm going there to see my Saviour,

Who shed for me His precious blood;

I am just going over Jordan,

I am just going over home.

Source: The Broadman Hymnal (Copyright 1940 Broadman Press)

Here is a music video of Angel City Chorale singing an arrangement of the American spiritual "The Wayfaring Stranger."

A Chip on His Shoulder

A CHIP ON HIS SHOULDER

Author Unknown

He always has something to grumble about,

    Has the man with a chip on his shoulder;

The world to the dogs is going, no doubt,

    To the man with a chip on his shoulder;

The clouds are too dark, the sun is too bright.

No matter what happens, it is never right;

When peace is prevailing he is spoiling to fight,

    The man with a chip on his shoulder.

A portrait of R. (which could stand for rogue),

a man with a chip on his shoulder

(and "The Devil's Idiot")

Photo copyright 2005 Evelyn M. Gilmer

While by My Sheep

WHILE BY MY SHEEP

The text of an anonymous Christmas hymn,

from the German

(Read Luke 2:15-20.)

While by my sheep I watched at night,

Glad tidings brought an angel bright.

How great my joy! Great my joy!

Joy, joy, joy! Joy, joy, joy!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

There shall be born, so he did say,

In Bethlehem a Child today;

How great my joy! Great my joy!

Joy, joy, joy! Joy, joy, joy!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

There shall the Child lie in a stall,

This Child who shall redeem us all.

How great our joy! Great our joy!

Joy, joy,joy! Joy, joy, joy!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

This gift of God we'll cherish well,

That ever joy our hearts shall fill.

How great our joy! Great our joy!

Joy, joy, joy! Joy, joy, joy!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

Praise we the Lord in heaven on high!

What Shall We Children Bring?

 The text of an anonymous, untitled hymn from The Book of Praise for Children (1881) reads:

The wise may bring their learning,

The rich may bring their wealth,

And some may bring their greatness,

And some bring strength and health;

We, too, would bring our treasures

To offer to the King;

We have no wealth or learning:

What shall we children bring?

We'll bring Him hearts that love Him;

We'll bring Him thankful praise,

And young souls meekly striving

To walk in holy ways:

And these shall be the treasures

We offer to the King,

And these are gifts that even

The poorest child may bring.

We'll bring the little duties

We have to do each day;

We'll try our best to please Him,

At home, at school, at play:

And better are these treasures

To offer to our King,

Than richest gifts without them;

Yet these a child may bring.

Yet what I can I give Him,

Give my heart.

(from "A Christmas Carol" by Christina Rossetti)

God Answered Johnny Reb's Unspoken Prayers

This is my revision of the anonymous, inspirational poem "Answered Prayer," which is attributed to an unknown Confederate soldier.

I asked God for strength

that I might achieve.

He made me weak

that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked God for health

that I might do greater things.

He gave me infirmity

that I might do better things.

I asked God for riches

that I might be happy.

He gave me poverty

that I might be wise.

I asked God for power

that I might have the praise of men.

He gave me weakness

that I might feel the need of God.

I asked God for all things

that I might enjoy life.

He gave me life

that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked God for --

but everything I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself,

God answered my unspoken prayers.

I am among all men most richly blessed.

 

A Pair of Christmas Poems: January 4 and 5

Here is a pair of Christmas poems that I wrote for January 4 and 5. The first poem is a tanka, and the second is a haiku. The final two lines of the tanka are quoted from an anonymous nursery rhyme.

Eleventh day of

Christmas. Among eleven

pipers piping was

Tom, Tom, the piper's son. He

learned to play when he was young.

Twelfth day of Christmas.

Among twelve drummers drumming

was one little boy.

To read about the Twelve Days of Christmas click here.

God So Loved the World: A Poem of Jesus Christ

"The giver makes the gift precious." --Anonymous

GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD

A Poem of Jesus Christ

A found poem from the Bible: John 3:16-21

(Revised Standard Version)

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,

that whoever believes in him should not perish

but have eternal life.

For God sent the Son into the world,

not to condemn the world,

but that the world might be saved through him.

He who believes in him is not condemned;

he who does not believe is condemned already,

because he has not believed in the name

of the only Son of God.

And this is the judgment,

that the light has come into the world,

and men loved darkness rather than light,

because their deeds were evil.

For every one who does evil hates the light,

and does not come to the light,

lest his deeds should be exposed.

But he who does what is true comes to the light,

that it may be clearly seen

that his deeds have been wrought in God.

The Love of Life

From section 48 of "Song of Myself"

in the 1892 edition of Leaves of Grass

by Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least.

Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself.

Why should I wish to see God better than this day?

I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and each moment then,

In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass,

I find letters from God dropt in the street, and every one is sign'd by God's name,

And I leave them where they are, for I know that wheresoe'er I go

Others will punctually come for ever and ever.

Read "Walt Whitman's Love of Life" >>>

A Walk in the Woods

An anonymous quotation reads, "I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees." The original source of that quotation, often attributed to Henry David Thoreau, has not been identified. Below is a haiku of mine based on the anonymous quotation above. The first line of this haiku of mine is exactly quoted from Walden; or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau.

I went to the woods

and walked in them. I came out

taller than the trees.

 Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Break Forth, O Beauteous, Heavenly Light

Break forth, O beauteous, heavenly light,

And usher in the morning;

O shepherds, greet that glorious sight,

Our Lord a crib adorning.

This child, this little helpless boy,

Shall be our confidence and joy,

The power of Satan breaking,

Our peace eternal making.

--Johann Rist (1607-1667);

   anonymous English translation from the German 

O Perfect Love

 Here is a hymn, a prayer, by Dorothy B. Gurney (1858-1932) for Robert and Megan on this their wedding day.

O perfect Love, all human thought transcending,

Lowly we kneel in prayer before thy throne,

That theirs may be the love which knows no ending,

Whom thou forevermore dost join in one.

O perfect Life, be thou their full assurance

Of tender charity and steadfast faith,

Of patient hope and quiet, brave endurance,

With childlike trust that fears nor pain nor death.

Grant them the joy which brightens earthly sorrow;

Grant them the peace which calms all earthly strife,

And to life's day the glorious unknown morrow

That dawns upon eternal love and life.

The poem above, which was first published in 1883, is in the public domain.

An anonymous quotation

An Anonymous Bit of Poetry

Source of the quotation: 

Thoughts from the Mountains (Heartland Samplers, Inc., 1992)

A Bit of Poetry for Thanksgiving Day

Today is Thanksgiving Day. Here is an anonymous bit of poetry for Thanksgiving.

The year rolls round its circle,
The seasons come and go.
The harvest days are ended,
And chilly north winds blow.
Orchards have lent their treasures,
And fields their yellow grain,
So open wide the door-way,
Thanksgiving comes again.

Source: Thoughts from the Mountains (Heartland Samplers, Inc., 1992)

A Song of the Tewa People

May the warp be the white light of morning,
May the weft be the red light of evening,
May the fringes be the falling rain,
May the border be the standing rainbow.
Thus weave for us a garment of brightness.

Source: Thoughts from the Mountains (Heartland Samplers, Inc., 1992)

To read an article about the Tewa people, click here.

Kind Words

Learn to speak kind words -- nobody resents them.
     --Author Unknown

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
     --The Bible: Colossians 4:6 (New International Version)


Source: Thoughts from the Mountains (Heartland Samplers, Inc., 1992)

To read an article about the apostle Paul's Epistle to the Colossians, click here.

"I Shall Not Pass This Way Again"

"I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again." So wrote William Penn (1644-1718). To read an article about William Penn, click here.


I SHALL NOT PASS THIS WAY AGAIN
Author Unknown

Through this toilsome world, alas!
Once and only once I pass;
If a kindness I may show,
If a good deed I may do
To a suffering fellow man,
Let me do it while I can.
No delay, for it is plain
I shall not pass this way again.

Little Boy Blue

Little boy blue, come blow your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn;
But where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
He's under the haystack fast asleep.
Will you wake him? No, not I,
For if I do, he'll be sure to cry.

     --Anonymous nursery rhyme