You’ve heard this tale a hundred times
In preacher prose or ragged rhymes
The manger and the donkey ride
The baby to a teenage bride

You’ve sat in church in candlelight
Waxed lyrically through Silent Night
Come faithfully, been told to hark!!
The bible words of light in dark

It’s all quite nice, don’t get me wrong
Christmas sweaters and familiar songs
Pies of mince and mulling wine
It’s great. It’s fun. It’s really…fine

But when the candles fade to black
And when you’re finally heading back
To homes, to jobs, to kids, to friends
To lists of chores that never end
To dreams of flying somewhere hot
D’you ever ask: Jesus…so what?

So what, his birth in Palestine?
So what, this ‘water into wine’?
So what, that ‘turn the other cheek’?
So what, ‘the blessed are the meek’?

So what to do with this new son
With twenty centuries been and gone?
If Jesus comes just once a year
What – really – are we doing here?

Or was there beauty in that birth
That God as child would crawl on earth?
Creator in created skin
Would sense our plight…and enter in

And was there beauty in that life
That walked our fears, our joys, our strife
Where every step left prints of peace
As captive hearts met sweet release

Yet even beauty on that cross
Where mortal eyes saw only loss?
“Forgive them, Father”, Jesus cried
And every tear was crucified

And there is beauty in that tomb
The splendour of an empty room
Where ugly death met its demise
And new hope dawned with new sunrise

So hear this tale eternal times
Despite these failing awkward rhymes
There is a God who loves your all
Your ebb and flow, your rise and fall

He’s closer than the air you breathe
Whether or not you dare believe
So take this gift into this night
Jesus – your life, Jesus – your light