December 24, 2008
From The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell [ Note: I had this on a record as a small boy and I wore that record out. How nice to find it now, Christmas Eve, 2008, so many years later.] Excerpt:The Littlest Angel trembled as the box was opened, and there, before the eyes of God and all his heaven;y host, was what he offered to the Christ child. And what was his gift to the blessed infant? Well, there was a butterfly with golden wings, captured one bright, summer day on the hills above Jerusalem, and a sky-blue egg from a bird's nest in the olive tree that stood to shade his mother's kitchen door. Yes, and two white stones, found on a muddy river bank, where he and his friends had played like small, brown beavers, and, at the bottom of the box, a limp, tooth- marked leather strap, once worn as a collar by his mongrel dog, who had died as he had lived, in absolute love and infinite devotion.
And the voice of God spoke, saying: Of all the gifts of all the angels, I find that this small box pleases me the most. Its contents are of the earth and of men, and my Son is born to be king of both. These are the things my Son, too, will know and love and cherish and then, regretfully, will leave behind him when his task is done. I accept this gift in the name of the child, Jesus, born of Mary this night in Bethlehem.
Posted by Vanderleun at December 24, 2008 8:22 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
Thank you, Gerard. I've never heard this story before, but this morning it was absolutely perfect.
Merry Christmas!
Posted by: Julie at December 25, 2008 9:08 AM
I was never read this book to the end... not that it wasn't tried. My mother and three older sisters would try, but could not carry on past their tears. I still learned the story somehow. Perhaps I read it to myself at some point. Every year after Thanksgiving, I find my childhood copy among the Christmas things. But having accumulated some years and pain of my own, I find myself unable to read it to my daughters. God bless you Gerard and thank you for the reminiscence.
Posted by: Western Chauvinist at December 25, 2008 12:32 PM
Gerard, thank you. You may also like this one. I read it years ago and will never forget the case of goosebumps it gave me! "Why the Bells Rang":
http://www.holytrinitynewrochelle.org/Why_the_Bells_Rang.html
Posted by: Jane at December 25, 2008 3:29 PM
Actually this is a better link. In the previous link I listed, someone took out an imporant little piece of the best sentence in the story. :-(
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=alden&book=chimes&story=rang
Posted by: Jane at December 25, 2008 3:32 PM