It was on a starry night,
when the hills were bright,
earth lay sleeping - sleeping calm and still;
when in a cattle-shed,
in a manger-bed,
a boy was born: King of all the world!
And all the Angels sang for him,
the bells of heaven rang for him,
for a boy was born: King of all world!

It was my day off work on Thursday and I was getting the last of my Christmass shopping in at Manchester city centre. I had got completely fed of of all the hustle and bustle, the crowds, the pushing and shoving, the queueing for the better part of an hour for a bus and the whole atmosphere. Then I finally got the bus home and sat diagonally opposite from two girls who were with their father. They couldn't have been much older then 4 or 5 years old, and, completely oblivious to the stress that many of us impose upon ourselves at this time of year, they were gleefully singing the Christmass carol, It was on a starry night.

O, the innocence of childhood!

It was unbelievably moving and put the whole thing back into context for me. I got home and, as I tried to explain what had happened, I just burst into tears. My housemate came over to comfort me until I managed to get out just enough words to explain that these were happy tears.

I think we, as a society and especially as Christians, can learn much from our children. They aren't sullied by all of the nonsense that we are. God bless them.

Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings...