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AWAY IN A MANGER
The carol, ‘Away in a manger no crib for a bed’,
Were just sweet words I knew well in my head,
I sang the carol with the sweet voice of a child
And always thought of Jesus so meek and mild.

The thought of a cattle shed and fresh warm hay,
On which the Saviour of the world first did lay,
It did not sink into my simple child-like head
Of the hardship of having a manger for His bed,

We went one Christmas to visit friends on a farm,
The stars were brighter and there was sweet calm,
So different from the noisy city where we did live,
And a deeper understanding to me that visit did give.

I went to the stable to help feed a rather sick sheep,
There I saw a real manger, and quietly I did peep,
With reverence I went into that lowly cold cattle shed,
A similar place to where Jesus first laid His sweet head.

The air was cold, I cried as the sick sheep I tried to feed,
The next time I sang that sweet song, I’d take more heed
Of a cattle shed, no place for childbirth that I can see,
Now ‘Away in a manger,’ means so very much more to me.

(Millicent) Ann Margetson 2 May 2004