[Part 3 of Ruben Saillens' le Père Martin, translated from French.] A few homeward bound revellers passed by, but the old shoemaker barely glanced at them. The marketplace vendors came with their small carts. He knew them too well to pay much attention to them. After an hour or two, his attention was drawn to … Continue reading Papa Martin and the young woman
Christmas
Papa Martin and the street sweeper
[Installment two of a Christmas tale by Ruben Saillens. Original title: le Père Martin. Translated from French.] Long before daylight the little lamp of the shoemaker was lit. He put more coal into his stove, where the fire had not yet gone out and busied himself preparing his coffee. Then he hurried to make his … Continue reading Papa Martin and the street sweeper
Papa Martin
[First instalment of a Christmas story by Ruben Saillens, original title Le Père Martin, translated from French.] You don’t know Papa Martin? He is only a shoemaker whose workshop, living room, bedroom and kitchen are all together in a little wooden building at the corner of Place de Lenche and rue des Martégales in the … Continue reading Papa Martin
Ruben Saillens vs Leon Tolstoy
Ruben Saillens (1855-1942) was a well-known French Baptist pastor, writer and musician. My next few posts will consist of my translation of a story written by him that was first published in France about 130 years ago. Unknown to the writer, someone translated it into English. The English version, with no name attached, then found … Continue reading Ruben Saillens vs Leon Tolstoy
Tidings of comfort and joy
These words, from the chorus of "God rest ye merry, Gentlemen," nicely sum up the intended impact of the birth of Jesus Christ. The angel who first appeared to the shepherds said, "Fear not: for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." After the shepherds had seen … Continue reading Tidings of comfort and joy
How silently, how silently
How silently, how silently, The wondrous gift is giv'n! So God imparts to human hearts The blessings of His heav'n. No ear can hear His coming, But in this world of sin, Where meek souls will receive Him still, The dear Christ enters in. (O Little Town of Bethlehem, 3rd verse, written by Phillips Brooks) … Continue reading How silently, how silently
We need better Christmas stories
No, I don’t mean we should try to improve upon the stories in the Bible. They are wonderful as they are, and true. The problem I have is with the Christmas stories for children, and adults, that take some elements of the Bible stories, add lots of imagination and wind up sounding like fairy tales. … Continue reading We need better Christmas stories
The star, the king and the foreigners
While the children of Israel were trekking through the desert after leaving Egypt, the king of Moab called on Balaam to curse them. Balaam found himself unable to curse them, rather pronouncing many blessings for them. The most notable was the prophecy recorded in Numbers 24:15-19, where Balaam says “there shall come a Star out … Continue reading The star, the king and the foreigners
My parents lied to me
I don't recall how it was taught, but right from my very earliest memories of Christmas I knew that most of my gifts came from Santa Claus. Of course there were other gifts from family members, but the most important ones came from Santa Claus. We lived in a rural area, there were no malls … Continue reading My parents lied to me
The best Christmas gift
We had our family Christmas gathering on Boxing Day. There was grandpa, grandma, daughter, son-in-law, two grandsons and two granddaughters. In the afternoon the table was laden with various snacks and we were all working away at reducing the quantities. Evan, our youngest grandson, two years and one month old, picked up a big handful … Continue reading The best Christmas gift
Flatlander Faith 