Responsively Yours

December 2000
Listen!  Listen to the Children!

Listen! Listen to the Children!

Listen to the children this Christmas

for laughter and crying;

for shrieks of joy and moans of despair;

for signs of love and signs of neglect;

for the beauty and ugliness of their lives.

Listen! Listen!

Listen to the children this Christmas

for words of wonder and sneers of disbelief;

for pride in being an angel,

and dis-ease at the bathrobe of the shepherd;

for satisfaction at the smallest gift,

and outrage when the gift is not just right;

for signs of anticipation and signs of dread.

Listen! Listen!

Listen to the children this Christmas

for signs of good health

and the tight cough that needs attention;

for quiet smiles and loud, disruptive anger;

for sighs of contentment and sighs of frustration;

for new, refreshing ideas and old, oft-repeated phrases.

Listen! Listen!

Listen to the children this Christmas

for they reflect the world in which they live,

and they model the behavior they see;

for they are crying for love, affection, care and faith;

for they can change a world of hate

to a world of peace and justice;

for they are God’s children proclaiming God’s grace.

Listen! Listen!

Listen to the children this Christmas

for they can share with you the miracle of happiness,

the sorrow of pain;

for they are God’s gift of life and possibility;

for they need our presence, passion and persistence

to right their wrongs;

for they speak from their hearts to our hearts.

Listen! Listen! Listen!

Responsively Yours ,

Joyce D. Sohl
Deputy General Secretary
Women's Division

See also: