“Lucy Mack Smith,” Ensign, Mar. 1981, 45
Lucy Mack Smith
Eliza R. Snow Poetry Contest 1981 3rd Place Winner
As she lay there,
Two days before Christmas,
With the babe in her arms,
The babe called Joseph
by an ancient Joseph
thousands of years before,
Did she marvel that the distant
Songs of carolers
Seemed a rejoicing angel choir?
Did she remember
Mary’s babe?
And did her heart reach out
Across the centuries
In compassion
To the long-ago Madonna
Unmindful of the
shadow of the cross
in the humble cave?
And did she hear a whisper:
“More … for mankind … save Jesus only …”
And feel a joyous thrill
And a warning chill
Of sisterhood?