In 1995, I wrote a Christmas poem and shared it with my family. I repeated this the following year…and the following…until it became a traditional rhythm of the Christmas season.

Beginning on Thanksgiving weekend, the process typically takes a number of weeks to complete, and the poem often does not click into its final shape until I’m most of the way through the process. As is true of many art forms, the practice of reflecting and wandering and wrangling images into words forces me to slow down and chew on deeper beauty and truth that otherwise can pass us by. This has been especially valuable for me during the same pre-Christmas time period that tends to speed things up with a myriad of other plans and festivities.

Please enjoy a selection of poems from this Christmas tradition below. I pray that these help you slow down to savor some of the deeper wonders of Christmas.

Year	Title
1995	A Christmas Poem
1996	Christmas
1997	Christmas Surprise
1998	Eyes on Christmas
1999	A Young Boy’s Christmas
2000	His Thirtieth Christmas
2001	A Child Again
2002	The Purpose of Paper Snowflakes
2003	The Yuletide Stretch
2004	How They See It
2005	Where Value Lies
2006	Season’s Response
2007	The Spirit of a Day
2008	Hope Arrives
2009	To Receive
2010	Divinity Touches
2011	Prepare the Way
2012	Born Unto Us
2013	Child’s Tale
2014	Milestones
2015	An Evergreen Hope
2016	Tidings Good
2017	Take Heart
2018	Love is Patient
2019	A Common Tradition
2020	Becoming Human
2021	The Equity of Christmas
2022	The Seed of Christmas
2023	Condescendence
2024	Breaking In
2025	A Tale of Two Seeds