An Empty Stocking

Wishing all my readers a very merry Christmas. And here is a Christmas Eve Sermon, from the wonderful film Bishop's Wife - Cary Grant as an Angel, David Niven as the Bishop, Loretta Young as the Bishop's wife. It should not work, but it does. It is a brilliant film, all about what guidance really is, and there are lots of lovely comic touches to it. A magic film for the season.
 
This sermon comes from the film, and is given on Christmas Eve. I think it has a message is one that everyone should hear and take to heart.
 
An Empty Stocking.
 
Tonight I want to tell you the story of an empty stocking.
 
Once upon a midnight clear, there was a child's cry, a blazing star hung over a stable, and wise men came with birthday gifts. We haven't forgotten that night down the centuries. We celebrate it with stars on Christmas trees, with the sound of bells, and with gifts.
 
But especially with gifts. You give me a book, I give you a tie. Aunt Martha has always wanted an orange squeezer and Uncle Henry can do with a new pipe. For we forget nobody, adult or child. All the stockings are filled, all that is, except one. And we have even forgotten to hang it up. The stocking for the child born in a manger. It's his birthday we're celebrating. Don't let us ever forget that.
 
Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most. And then, let each put in his share, loving kindness, warm hearts, and a stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shinning gifts that make peace on earth.