When Sally sang "Silent Night" I could see the manger and a sweet-faced mother that somehow looked like Sally herself.  She believed every word she was singing.  "All is calm, all is bright!"  Ha!  It wasn't calm for me--or bright either!  But, there was a brightness radiating from Sally's face that seemed to shine softly into the dark stable in Bethlehem and there I saw it shining 'round yon virgin, mother and child, holy infant so tender and mild.'

Why do I keep reliving that night?  Living it once was enough!  Now, there is so much Christmas in the air!  Every radio and loud-speaker in town playing carols to get people in the Christmas spirit!  It's enough to drive a person crazy!

Last year, I remember that after they finished singing carols, Mother sat down with her Bible and everyone gathered around, like we used to do when we were kids, and she read the Christmas story from Luke 2.  She read about Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem to pay their taxes and while there she gave birth to the Lord Jesus.  They couldn't find a room in the inn so He was born in a stable...

Mother continued to read the Christmas story from Luke 2.  She read about the shepherds, watching their flocks at night.

¹In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ²(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³And everyone went to his own town to register.
⁴So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
 

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