Delivered on Christmas

By Dean McFalls

Delivered on Christmas 2023: The Ultimate Edition, is a literary masterpiece. The work of a lifetime, this 430-page anthology of original poetry, narrative, artwork, and in-depth reflection spans half a century. With 21 episodes patterned after “The Night before Christmas”, McFalls leads you on riveting adventures ranging from fantasy and satire to profound meditations on Christmas and the human condition – despair and redemption, conversion, hope, and final victory. All this unfolds against real historical events: the World Wars, the Cold War, and War in the Ukraine, the three-year Pandemic, immigration, poverty, incarceration, death and dying, apparitions of Mary, prophetic warnings, and the End Times. All ages will find something to enjoy. See www.deanmcfalls.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543412796

Dean McFalls

Dean McFalls’ journey began in Seattle, where he and four siblings were raised in the Congregational Church UCC. During graduate studies in theology, Dean joined the Catholic Church. He has served over the years in elementary and high school education, in the missions, in international initiatives for justice and peace, as a writer, and for twenty years as a Roman Catholic priest. He now resides in Stockton, California, with his wife and their son. This is his first book; he hopes that many will follow.

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Copyright © 2017 by Dean McFalls.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Every effort has been made to give credit for photographs used and to obtain permission where possible.

Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All other Bible citations are used with permission, identified, and if necessary, footnoted.

Rev. date: 07/21/2023

Xlibris

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Delivered on Christmas 2023: The Beginning

’Twas the night before Christmas

            when you opened this book:

    Why not? you had thought…"I’ll take a quick look…

Maybe I’ll find something special for me –

    like a gift hidden carefully under the tree."

After all, with Corona, our world’s rearranged –

    there’s so little that COVID-19 hasn’t changed!

But two things we have, still, are lifelines, and hope

    that God will be there, at the end of our rope!

With all that we’ve lost, and the loved ones departed,

    we trust God won’t leave us storm-tossed, ²

            broken-hearted.

For Christmas is New Life, and Grace from Above,

    and the Child Jesus Christ –

            Heaven’s presence of Love.

So welcome, dear reader, to this book of surprises --

    this collection of poems about people in crisis.

Whether lighthearted, serious, or deep as the sea,

    these stories are gifts for you, with love, from me.

Dean H McFalls, July 2020

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Dean McFalls’ journey began in Seattle, where he and four siblings were raised in the Congregational Church, UCC. During graduate studies in theology, Dean joined the Catholic Church. He has served over the years in elementary and high school education, in the missions, in international initiatives for justice and peace, as a writer, and for eighteen years as a Roman Catholic priest. He married in 2015, is raising a heaven-sent son, and lives in Stockton, California. This is his first book; coming next is a five-part series called Dear Gabriel – a Father’s Legacy.

How You’ll Benefit by Owning

and Reading this Book

Reading: Delivered invites you to dive in and immerse yourself in its world of magic, wisdom, inspiration, and illumination. You’ll discover a wide variety of literary forms. And you’ll be challenged and enriched.

Writing Verse and Poetry: I’ve packed this anthology with many kinds of verse and poetry, and encourage you to try as well. Nothing I share is beyond your abilities. This book will support your poetic inclinations. Likewise, if I did the illustrations for this book, you can try drawing, too.

Understanding Signs of the Times: We’re living in an ever-changing world. Unfortunately, many of these changes are threatening the future wellbeing – even existence – of humanity. Reading this book, you’ll grow in your ability to observe, discern, and choose wisely the path you must take. This means fine-tuning your ability to hear the voice of God.

Spiritual Growth: The more you invest yourself in this book, the more you’ll open yourself up to the action of the Holy Spirit. My life-context and point of view are undeniably Catholic. At the same time, I write to a broader audience, and invite all people of goodwill to approach what’s here with an open mind. We have all been created in the Image of God and have a mission.

Education with an occasional belly-laugh: Our youth are too often ignorant about critical events around the world and the foundational principles on which our life of faith and our great nation have been built. This book makes learning enjoyable and, yes, often entertaining.

Table of Contents and Episode Themes – 2023 Edition

Praise for Delivered on Christmas: Four Reviews

The Central Theme: Incarnation (and the Word was made Flesh…)

Why "Delivered on Christmas"? Why the book’s Cover Design?

Author’s 2017 Preface: Background, Point of View, and Purpose

In Gratitude to Dr. Seuss and a Description of the Meter we’ve used

Haikus vs. Limericks at Christmastime: The Medium is the Message

Childrens’ Morning and Bedtime Prayers (Life-Application Poetry)

Children’s Poems for Advent & Christmas Eve (Fun with a Message)

America’s Original Classic: The Night Before Christmas (Dec. 1822)

Author’s Episode 1. An Unwelcome Visitor (Fantasy: December 1985)

Themes: Home invasion, Gender, Classic Monsters, Reconciliation, Allegory.

The Santa Cycle: An Introduction (with author’s first episode from 1967)

Themes: Does Santa exist? Santa’s role in Christmas. 56-year-old Santa poem.

Episode 2. The Beloved (Brief, Fantasy, Romance: December 1976)

Themes: Marriage & Fidelity, Santa, Witchcraft, Unconditional Love, Humor.

3. The Warning (Brief, Fantasy, Morality Tale: December 1977)

Themes: Sin & Repentance, Judgment & Mercy, Hell, Conversion, Humor.

4. The Solution (Mystery with a Message: December 1978)

Themes: Alien Life, Labor & Unionization, Technology, Fantasy, Idealism.

5. The Three Gifts (True-to-life Fantasy, Testimony: December 1979)

Themes: Poverty, Loss, Single Parenting, Depression, Charity, Restoration.

6. The Sermon (In-Depth Visionary Spirituality: December 1980)

A seminarian struggles to deliver. Providence delivers a powerful message.

7. Peace on Earth (Epic, Historical Fantasy: December 1982)

Santa’s mission is nearly destroyed during the Cold War; Reasons for Hope.

8. On Holy Ground (Epic, Historical Drama, Testimony: December 1983)

Themes: Tragic legacy of War; Our call to work for Peace & Reconciliation.

9. The Tower (Epic Fantasy, Testimony of Conversion: December 1984)

Themes: Affluence, Corporate & National Greed, Disparity of Wealth, Babel

10. The Seventh-Story Suite (Epic, continues The Tower: Dec. 1985)

A family comes back to earth after retreating from the chaos of this world.

11. My Father’s House (Briefer, Religious Reflection: December 1986)

Mid-eighties tensions in the Archdiocese of Seattle and in the Catholic Church.

12. The Great Invitation (Brief, Spirituality, Warning: December 1987)

A call to conversion goes out from Medjugorje’s apparition of the Virgin Mary.

13. Prepare Ye the Way (Brief, Spirituality, Testimony: December 1988)

A young priest struggles with full conversion and dedicating everything to God.

14. The Key (Brief, Spirituality, Visionary: December 1989)

The author is touched by Grace during an all-night vigil near Medjugorje.

15. The Star (Brief, Spirituality, Immigration, Hope: December 1990)

A young couple struggles with despair when unable to cross border to USA.

16. What is Essential (Pandemic Poem & Commentaries: August 2020)

A Bold, Epic, In-Depth, and Comprehensive view of issues surfacing in 2020.

17. COVID-19 Revisited: The Essential Pandemic (Epic: August 2021)

Focusing on the Virus, the Lock-downs, and the impact on one family’s life.

18. Born from Above – Waking up to God’s Providence (August 2021)

The author reviews his entire life, discovering God at work, even in tragedy.

19. Hope for Ukraine (Political & Spiritual view of the War: Dec. 2022)

The Background & Ongoing Tragedy of Putin’s invasion, Christmas Eve ‘22.

20. The Final Hour (Brief, Spirituality with Commentary: April 2023)

Concluding the Triumph of Innocence series by anticipating the End Times.

After-Words of the Author: Ascent and Descent

Appendix 1: Four original pages from episode of 1985

Appendix 2: Credits for Photographs, Images

Appendix 3: Journeying onward into the light: a Poem for Epiphany

Conclusion: A Message of Mercy from Pope Saint John Paul II

Praise for Delivered on Christmas

Pacific Review of Books Star Award for Excellent Merit

Dr. Rosh Doan is a retired pediatrician and global health worker with experience in Poland, South America, the Soviet Union and two of its successor states, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine. He has been a leader in citizen diplomacy through the Seattle-Tashkent Sister City Association, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, and the St. Petersburg-Seattle Sister Churches Program. The author has known him as a great friend and mentor since 1970, when Dr. Doan and his wife assisted in high school youth group leadership. The Doans received and appreciated all 15 episodes from 1976 to 1990.

The Central Theme: Incarnation

God-with-us in Jesus Christ

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14, ESV)

This book, and the episodes it contains, draws its life from the mystery of the Incarnation: God becomes one of us -- and one with us -- in the person of Jesus Christ.

As John 3:16-17 testifies, the Son of God was sent to die for our sins, that we might be saved. For Christians, the greatest event of all human history is the Pascal Mystery: the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord. But the redemptive Passion and glorious Victory would not have been possible - nor conceivable - without the Incarnation.

For those of us who dwell in the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4), Incarnation is the lifeline to hope. When the fullness of time had come, St. Paul testifies, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5, ESV)³

John the Evangelist, in the Prologue to the fourth gospel, declares: …the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, ESV)

What’s more, John adds an amazing promise to a tragic situation. Here’s how the King James Version rendered it:

He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:11-13)

And because you are sons, Paul concludes, "God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." (Galatians 4:6-7, ESV)

To the Romans, Paul writes: The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:16-17, ESV)

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There you have it. Each of the seventeen more serious episodes of this book derives its redemptive message from the wellsprings of the Incarnation. And every episode happens on Christmas Eve. That’s when delivery begins.

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A Note Regarding the Title

and Cover of this Book

The anthology you’re reading began as The Triumph of Innocence. You’ll see that title in every year’s adventure.

Inspired in 1976 by William Blake’s artwork, his poetry, and his Songs of Innocence and Experience -- and by an American classic, "The Night Before Christmas" -- I launched an annual tradition that would last fifteen years.

The themes of victory for the underdog and the power of simple faith play out, in a unique way, in each of these holiday sagas. It only made sense, then, to use The Triumph of Innocence as the title for this anthology.

However, searching online for other works with that name to avoid copyright infringement, I discovered an inspiring book by Nigerian priest Oselumhense Anetor, a ceramic urn by Grayson Perry, then something far from innocent…

Delivery and deliverance are also themes that permeate the stories in this book. They take us from crisis to victory.

And Christmas, with all this sacred day means to us, is in every case central to the varied ways in which innocence prevails and the delivery and deliverance take place.

I encourage you to be on the lookout here for every heaven-sent blessing -- and meanwhile to be counting the blessings which have come into your life because of the coming-into-our-history of the One we call Christ.

Christ is the Light that keeps on breaking through into our darkness. The pivotal moment of all human history – the Incarnation -- still matters, here and now, in your history. The Gospels are still being written in your life-experience, as you cooperate with the graces you receive.

If this anthology re-awakens in you this awareness – with a sense of awe, wonder, and gratitude -- it will have succeeded. Better yet: I hope you’ll be drawn closer to the Triune God Who drew so near to us in Bethlehem.

As the later episodes (1978 onwards) and the Pandemic make painfully clear, the deliverance so urgently needed today is not only for individuals – as in my salvation, or our redemption – but on an international, a universal, even a cosmic level. Christ came, not only for you and me and each one of us, but to deliver and redeem all of Creation.

These stories all begin on Christmas Eve and end with the dawning of new hope. This explains the providential choice of such a beautiful cover image by the publishers who’ve helped bring you this book. That winter scene integrates the diversity of these stories with an image of light in the darkness, warmth in freezing cold, comfort in isolation, a new day in the midst of night, and the marvel of unfathomable mystery unfolding in utter simplicity.

The long Pandemic made this image even more relevant.

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The people who walked in darkness have seen a

great light; upon those who lived in a land of

gloom a light has shone. (Isaiah 9:1, NAB)

Author’s Preface for the First Edition (revised)

From childhood, as Christmas drew near, I loved hearing that beloved American classic, A Visit from Saint Nicholas – i.e. The Night Before Christmas.

Its lyrical quality, lively meter and palpable imagery captured my imagination, and beckoned me back into the wonderful world of joy-filled anticipation and innocent fantasy.

Poetry and verse had always been my inheritance. 400 years before I was born, my ancestor Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672) became the first English poet of the North American colonies to be published. My father -- and his father as well -- were skilled at weaving meter and rhyme with humor and insight. My earliest years also featured the rise of my favorite children’s author and illustrator, Theodor Geisel – alias Dr. Seuss. And so from an early age, I tried to emulate his work.

Beginning in 1967, I created my first Night Before… book – a nine-page, illustrated variation on the theme. Fifty-six years later, I’m finishing the 2023 episode at the age of…68.

The term verse relates to the structure of what you’ll find in this anthology, but the stories I relate would be superficial (and ultimately tedious) were it not for the element of poetry. If the interplay of meter and rhyme makes a message more accessible, the question still needs to be addressed: What, then, is your message -- the purpose for all these words?

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A poem by the author’s great aunt — his paternal grandmother’s sister, who spent most of her adult life in an Anthroposophic community in Spring Valley, New York. The author illustrated the poem (hand-coloring each copy) as a Christmas gift to her and the extended family. The likely year was 1973, when the author lived in northern Idaho, surrounded by forests and, in winter, deep snow and extreme cold.

The Purpose for my Poetry –

that is, for using words with substance and beauty

1) Substance, Beauty, Reverence, and Simplicity are

essential when we talk about Christmas.

This holiday would not continue to evoke such deep emotion and generate such hope and yearning if its content were reduced to sugarplums and reindeer, to ribbons and a jolly old elf named Santa. Much less does the modern world’s reductive, commercialized caricature of the holiday offer lasting inspiration. In 2023, this has been truer than ever.

Popular culture and secular society have never, and never will, meet the deeper needs of the human spirit. The hopes and fears of all the years are met, not in Hollywood, nor on Wall Street or Capitol Hill, but in lowly Bethlehem, in the crowded stable, in a manger filled with straw. They meet, today, in every contemporary echo of Bethlehem’s humility. And, ultimately, they must meet in the humbled human heart.

2) The human heart was created by God with a craving for God Himself. (Psalm 42, St. Augustine’s Confessions)

As our children are spoon-fed (rather, force-fed) Americana’s less-than-satisfying holiday diet of empty candy-coated calories, their spirits cry out for so much more. They yearn for nourishment capable of giving true life and restoring our God-given dignity.

Most of us know the true story of Christmas. Many of us consider the birth of the Messiah to be a faith-based matter of life and death for the whole human race.

We will never be satisfied with even the most delightful counterfeits and masquerades of popular culture. We look beyond the annual onslaught of theatrics and distractions to the ultimate, redemptive power of the Incarnation.

As each one of us allows that power to manifest itself in our own personal life-journeys, our own Christmas story – our own Gospel -- is written, engraved in our daily lives.

This explains, to a large degree, the motive behind these twenty variations on the original theme of The Night Before Christmas. They range freely through the personal and political, the sublime and ridiculous, the spiritual and the mundane. But their steady movement is toward the Light which alone can deliver us from darkness.

3) An author’s testimony: I believe that what began as my stories ultimately became God’s.

Progressively, increasingly, these episodes were generated from the gut – that is, out from the center of my being. It was as if a new child were being born every December (this year, in July!). Often without my willing it, and usually when I had little time or patience for the pains of delivery, these annual productions would simply start growing, and growing, and growing. They would demand my attention until each became its own unique obsession. Then, once finished (and usually illustrated), they would insist on being reproduced and mailed out to dozens of family members and friends. Remember: during those years there was no Internet, nor did we have cellular telephones and instant messaging.

Given that in the late 70’s and 80’s I was poor, studying and working in a very wide variety of locations and conditions, it’s a miracle in itself that anything got written, let alone distributed. But this testifies to the urgency I felt to give these stories life, and to make them known.

Despite their historical settings and references, all the sagas have a timeless character. And since history has a way of repeating itself, several of the themes have become, once again, relevant.

A Request for an Open Mind and Heart

You may or may not sympathize with the point(s) of view expressed in these stories. Please keep in mind that, in all of them, I was struggling with difficult issues that hardly allowed for simple solutions. This explains the unexpected twists of fate that punctuate the plots, often leading to reversals or greater diversity in perspective.

The introductions and footnotes are not just filler. They offer essential background and context to narratives which you might otherwise find inaccessible. Footnotes clarify points and vocabulary, sharing also some of the scriptural references inspiring my compositions. Everything is included to give you a wider window into the deeper significance of what these stories hope to convey.

Illustrations will gradually disappear as the book progresses. Your imagination will supply far greater images than I can draw – images more relevant to you.

Thank you, dear reader, for having opened this book. I hope and pray that your immersion in these verses and their message will enrich your Christmas celebration, bringing blessings to your life, whoever and wherever you are.

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How this Book is Organized

To set the stage, we’ve begun by reprinting the original Night Before Christmas. This way, you can see the source of inspiration and the pattern of verse which provided the template for my annual variations on the old familiar theme.

Next, you’ll see three of my more light-hearted and satirical verses. I’m taking the risk of putting the most ridiculous one first. It’s the only story that doesn’t fit within the organic, progressive development of themes. But it is enjoyable, and demonstrates how anyone with time on their hands can toy with the structure and images of the original classic, to create a disaster uniquely their own. - BTW it does have a moral.

Immediately following that first episode, the Santa Cycle introduction will explain where Santa Claus comes from, why he’s still legit and important to the holidays, and how he plays a key role in several of the episodes (i.e. the cycle, which begins below on page 42).

All but the first episode will be presented in the order they were written. I’d prefer for you to read them from beginning to end, from the first to the last. But if your curiosity or preoccupations lead you to pick and choose, be my guest!

With heartfelt gratitude to all who’ve read and appreciated these stories, and with eternal thanksgiving both to the One who sent His Son into the world and to that Child who is the Reason for the Season, I wish you all God’s blessings.

Mary of Nazareth, pray for us! It was you who first opened your heart and your womb to the coming of our Redeemer. Now help us, your children, to open our hearts, as well, and to echo your Yes to the Father’s will, come what may!

And on this, the 100th anniversary of your apparitions in Fatima, let our Yes be echoed throughout all Creation, so that the purpose of your visits and messages will be fulfilled, both now and in eternity. Amen. – Dean H. McFalls, 2017

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On the following page, a photo of our son at just a few days and a note re: Mary’s 1917 apparitions at Fatima, Portugal.

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The reason for my new season of life.