Empty Places

I pause to think as loved ones

gather round a festive table near.

How Christmas time is bittersweet,

because of empty places there.

Then I wonder how God must have felt,

as he cradled his son, and gently knelt,

and laid him in a manger low,

then looked upon him, far below.

So when we see that empty place,

Consider heaven’s empty space,

Glory must have dimmed a bit,

And heaven shed a tear,

An angel held a candle lit,

When God sent his Son down here.

So light a candle for the Holy Child,

And set a place for him.

God knows the darkness and trembling grief,

That pales your heart so grim.

He knows of our sorrow.

He knows of our tears.

He knows of our loneliness, hunger and fears.

 

And knowing us, he sent his Son.

And loving us, he sent his Son.

Do we forget the reason why?

He came to die.

He came to die.

From Bethlehem to Calvary,

For you and I.

For you and I.

 

 

                                          MJS 12/94 (revised 12/12)