Once we, with our limited minds, have generously exhausted our abilities to patch up our poor world, may we not trust that the Great Mind that, out of sheer possibility, makes Christmas Roses bloom, knows possibilities for our future that far surpass our current imagination?
On the night of December 7th to 8th this year, I had an unusual dream: I was writing down a short Christmas story. It was dictated to me in my dream, but I considered each word so carefully while writing it down that it had remained clear in my memory when I woke up.
Once upon a time, a cobbler and his wife were working at making shoes. God had not given them children of their own, but they had learned to cut the leather so skillfully that with every pair of shoes they made to order, they could make a small pair on the side for a poor child. As they were working together, they used to sing:
Father of us all, we pray
As we make these shoes today:
Nowhere on this earth let go
Children barefoot in the snow.
But no matter how hard they worked, there seemed to be more and more poor children in our world. With heavy hearts the cobbler and his wife used to work until late in the night, but the help they were able to offer seemed like a drop on a hot stone.
It was the holy night of Christmas, but in their sadness the two old people were not aware of it, still sewing on a small pair of shoes. Suddenly a golden light filled the workshop and a barefoot little boy came in. He took the cobbler’s wife by one hand and the cobbler by the other and led them out into the snow behind the house. Wherever he went, Christmas Roses raised their heads in his tracks, and he said with a voice like a wind-bell:
Go now and rest.
God knows best.
My reaction to this dream surprised even me. Still half asleep, I was angry and railed against “this sentimental distraction from the world’s needs.” I woke up disturbed. Since then, however, I’ve begun to ask myself: Once we, with our limited minds, have generously exhausted our abilities to patch up our poor world, may we not trust that the Great Mind that, out of sheer possibility, makes Christmas Roses bloom, knows possibilities for our future that far surpass our current imagination? May this thought give us inner peace throughout 2026 and at the same time spur us on to double our efforts in working together for outer peace. This is my fierce wish.
Your brother David
Image by Natalia Gasiorowska
Br. David Steindl-Rast
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