A Prayer for Christmas Morning

Henry Van Dyke

---

The day of joy returns, Father in Heaven,
    and crowns another year with peace and good will.
Help us rightly to remember the birth of Jesus,
    that we may share in the song of the angels,
    the gladness of the shepherds,
    and the worship of the wisemen.
Close the doors of hate and open the doors of love
     all over the world…
Let kindness come with every gift
     and good desires with every greeting.
Deliver us from evil, by the blessing that Christ brings,
    and teach us to be merry with clean hearts.
May the Christmas morning make us happy
    to be thy children, and the Christmas evening
    bring us to our bed with grateful thoughts,
    forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake.
Amen.

from A Treasury of Christmas Stories.
Henry Van Dyke
edited by James S. Bell, Jr.
Harold Shaw Publishers, 1993