A poem sent by dear Ruth, my Scottish friend ,in County Clare.

Christmas 2013

When the night is darkest and cold, 

May a bright star reveal itself to you.

May the star descend to Earth and

May it touch the place in you that fears, or shrinks in shame.

May it remind you of your own star nature. 

May you open your hands, your heart, to welcome it in.

May the star of love and hope be born anew within you and

May it shine in your thinking, words and actions in the year to come.

Ruth Marshall's Christmas poem.

Wild Geese ( sent to me by Anne)

You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert,repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair,yours,and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese,high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are ,no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese,harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Mary Oliver.