Christmas In Bethlehem And Other Places Poem by Martin Ward

Bethlehem: population 25,270; about the same as Belper.
Forever famed for being the birthplace of The Son of God,
but void of a Wilkos or George's Traditional - although
it does have a drive-through McDonalds;
Bethlehem Pennsylvania has several for lovers of Big Macs.
All three towns will be adorned to celebrate the birth of Our Saviour.
With so many Christians from different nations in old Bethlehem,
no single day holds the feast: it goes on for weeks.
Christian houses have doors painted with crosses
and scenes from The Nativity are displayed in every home.
Arabian stallions run through the streets, with horsemen carrying crosses.
Clergy and Church People follow behind, accompanied
by Government Officials, resplendent in their uniforms.

In other places, Christians celebrate Christmas in different ways:
for example, China, where the faithful may feel unsafe, so memorise The Bible,
just in case they are jailed. Guards cannot see or take what is in the heart.
The men of transitory power (like Herod)worship nothing.
1% of the Japanese population celebrate Christmas,
but those who do prefer to help the sick and poor, rather than give gifts.
Their Santa Claus is based upon a Buddhist monk called Hotei-osho.
Indian Christians decorate their houses with mango leaves
and light lamps made from clay. Instead of Scandinavian pines,
banana trees are adorned with lights and decorations.
Coptic Christians in Egypt celebrate on the 7th of January:
a date to be relished, for fasting of forty days will cease
and the eating of dairy and meat can begin at a feast after Mass.

In England, the tills of Christmas chime from late September,
when the first or last Easter Egg (sorry, spring confection)
has just been consumed. Let fireworks off and crack open another Carlsberg
before the latest trans-Atlantic offering of tinsel-slush
beams in from a satellite somewhere nearer to God.
But not for us. Christmas is more than that. Christ is in Christmas:
He is the radiant warmth that draws us to Him
and rejoices in the love we share with others - families or strangers;
in the blankets placed upon someone's son or daughter, sitting cold
upon the pavements of our city's streets or starving in some foreign land.
Let ours be the hands that reach out to others and in prayer:
Christmas began in Bethlehem with The Greatest Gift,
which we, in turn, must share with all the world.