O Holy Night – glorious morn

CHRISTMAS – is such a wonderful season when hearts rejoice and the warmth of joy and happiness fill the air, the beautiful sounds of carols in the night, and sparkling lights in every home.
The little boy standing by the window looked up at the dark sky. There were no stars tonight, the Heavens looked lonely and he thought,
“The angels must be away taking care of all the lonely children in the world.”

His eyes searched the sky and just a faint glow he saw, and he whispered, “Are you there, mom? Will you come to visit me?”
A question he had asked so many times over the years. He yearned for her love, to feel her motherly comfort, to hear her voice and see her sweet smile, and each night as he lay in bed, she would sing him a song; the music in her voice only he heard, the smile on her face only he saw.

He had begun questioning God when he understood what had happened.
“Why did you take her away from me? Why, when I opened my eyes to welcome this world, her eyes closed in farewell?”
His father had become so grieved and broken at her loss he couldn’t look at the baby.

She had died in childbirth due to unexpected complications and somehow the baby was blamed for that. He was taken home, but his father’s dislike caused tensions in the home, especially at night when he cried so much, just to hear a loving, kind voice.

Six months later, after his father had left home to work in another region and left him in the care of relatives whose negligence made him almost die twice, social workers took him away from that home of hell and the orphanage became his new home. Sometimes in his mind, he rued pain in his young heart of his father abandoning him.

He sat by the window each night, looking at the twinkling stars, reaching his little hands out as though he could touch them for he felt his mother lived with the angels amongst the stars. And his young heart had wished that he be given a mother like the angels in Heaven.

This Christmas that was all he wanted. That was all he had ever wanted.
He was a brave boy, he tried never to cry nor to feel sad, just to hope and pray that what was so precious and had been taken away from him could be returned. He believed that Christmas was that time when magic waltzed in the air and miracles happened.

“Daniel,” a kind authoritative voice broke into his thoughts.
He turned around and obediently said, “Good night,” to the House Mother, Sister Claire.
As he got into bed, a tiny little star peeped out from the darkened sky, twinkling at him. Sister Claire looked at the sleeping little boy, a worried look on her face. He had been here at the orphanage for almost six years now and no one seemed to want him, and she wondered why he was so unlucky. Several people over the years had expressed interest in adopting him, but strangely at the last moment, they always changed their minds. What she didn’t know was that the boy himself didn’t want to be adopted by those who came before. In his innocent mind, he knew none of them had been sent by God.

She hoped tomorrow would be a good day for him, for someone was coming to see him.
The next morning was Christmas day and at the orphanage, there was eagerness for the scrumptious breakfast served and excitement for the opening of presents. Daniel opened the gift Santa had brought him and he smiled wryly, “Of course, a remote-control racing car.”

“I wonder,” he mused, “Where is God’s gift?”
In the Chapel, as he looked at Mother Mary and the Christ Child late that afternoon, he thought of questioning God, again when a voice called his name, “Daniel.”
That voice, he recognised for often he had heard it in his mind, the warmth flowing in his being. He turned around slowly, whispering fervently,

“Please let it be her.”
She was standing by the door, simple and beautiful as he had imagined. She smiled sweetly at him.
“Merry Christmas, Daniel, I’ve come to offer you a home with me and my little family.”

He stared at her, not saying anything, choked with emotion. So long he had yearned for this, hoping and praying for something special in his life.
Today on Christmas Day, after seven years, God had given back to him the precious gift he had taken.

He won’t anymore be that lonely little boy, sitting by the window looking at the stars, he would now have a home and a family with the love and warmth he had yearned for – the miracle of Christmas.