{"id":6276,"date":"2020-12-22T06:02:38","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T12:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/?p=6276"},"modified":"2020-12-28T06:32:23","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T12:32:23","slug":"from-the-cradle-to-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/","title":{"rendered":"From the cradle to the cross!"},"content":{"rendered":"
From the cradle to the cross!<\/strong><\/p>\n When the time had arrived, on the appointed day, From the archives of poems by Bill C. Dotson<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From the cradle to the cross! When the time had arrived, on the appointed day, Mary gave birth to\u00a0Jesus, and laid Him on the hay. Not of fine linen or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":6279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[105,112],"tags":[223,190,129],"post_template_type":[95],"pillar":[],"study_type":[],"acf":[],"ticketed":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6276"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6276"},{"taxonomy":"post_template_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_template_type?post=6276"},{"taxonomy":"pillar","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pillar?post=6276"},{"taxonomy":"study_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/study_type?post=6276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMary gave birth to\u00a0Jesus, and laid Him on the hay.
\nNot of fine linen or silk, His swaddling clothes,
\nHad to be born in a manger as the inn was filled and closed.
\nWhat was Mary thinking as she drew Him to her breast;
\n‘How could I have been chosen to be so very blessed?’
\nJoseph stood nearby, sheltering them from the cool winter air;
\nAs he pondered the scene and observed the baby lying there.
\nHe was not His true father, that Joseph knew for sure;
\nDeeply troubled by all the ridicule they have had to endure.
\n\u2018Mary, did you know\u2019, they asked, as she placed Him on His bed;
\n\u2018Yes\u2019, she replied, \u2018all has come true, everything the Holy Angel said\u2019.
\nBethlehem, you\u2019d been chosen, did you even have a clue;
\nThat the Savior, Immanuel, God\u2019s only Son, would be born in you?
\nThe prophets had foretold, but why you, such a little town?
\nAll the shepherds are gazing as they start to gather round.
\nDrawn to this holy spot, encouraged by the heavenly host;
\nWhat was so special that angels sang, and a star seemed so close?
\nIts brightness drew distant wise men and their gift-laden caravan;
\nTo the place destined to be the first home of the Son of Man.
\nThe cattle stood lowing, along with the sheep from the hills nearby;
\nTheir heads turn toward the cradle as the baby begins to cry.
\nThere was so much to ponder by all who had gathered to see
\nWhat God had surely done; now no longer a mystery.
\nA long, hard trip lay ahead, to Egypt they would go;
\nThe first of which that would lead to Jerusalem, little did they know.
\nFrom the sanctuary of a cool, dark cave to cruel Golgotha\u2019s hill;
\nA scene quite different, but He knew it was His Father\u2019s will.
\nThere was no angelic singing-only crowds stirred into an angry mob;
\nMary and the other women, with the disciples, begin to sob.
\nShe was remembering how this had all begun, so innocent and serene;
\nNow to see Him being tortured; what could this really mean?
\nThirty-three years here with them, showing compassion and love;
\nTo die for our sins, not His, must be why He left His home above.
\nThe road from Bethlehem led to many places, all had been foretold;
\nPassed on from generation to generation, the story never gets old.
\nToday we know the full truth, which we must accept by faith;
\nGod\u2019s grace and mercy are evident, no matter what the place.
\nSee, it is for us that Mary and her family had to suffer loss;
\nBoth destined to happen; the joy at the cradle and the sorrow at the cross.
\nTo accept one without the other would be nothing less than heresy;
\nWe glory in the cross at Easter; but it is Christmas, let us rejoice in the Nativity!<\/p>\n