The Quiet Beauty of Christmas

There is a quiet beauty of Christmas

Lingering in our hopeful hearts

Reverence toward our fragile existence

Counting our blessings that we are alive

To watch these younger, innocent ones

Tiptoe toward a glowing evergreen tree

Their eyes lit up in the joy of the season

Contagious excitement to give and receive.

Christmas reminds us that the greatest gifts

Cannot be contained in gold paper and bows

Or sold behind counters, purchased on screens,

But are found within familiar walls

Or in the eyes and smiles and caring hands

Of people who feel exactly like home,

Priceless offerings of goodwill and friendship

The security of a roof overhead, food to eat

Our most basic human needs, met in full

These are the things that matter the most

On this quiet, beautiful, Christmas day.