On the 13th day of Christmas,
Merry,
Merry Christmas,
Happy,
Happy Holy Days,
And Healthy,
Healthy Holidays.
I hope all your preparations for Christmas are flowing with grace,
With ease.
I hope you're enjoying many,
Many moments throughout every day where you simply pause,
Place your hands over your heart,
Let your breath breathe you,
And enjoy a minute or two of connection with the pure love and wonder you are.
This simple practice can make all the difference in how you experience every moment and how effective you are throughout the day.
And in this blessed moment,
I'm so delighted you're joining me for Blissberry Bear's Holiday Storytime.
My name is Timothy,
And sitting on my lap is Blissberry Bear.
Blissberry zoomed into my life 40 years ago from the Great Bear constellation in his blue pearl starship to tell children of all ages magical,
Mystical fairy tales of the heart.
Fairy tales that are fun,
Entertaining,
Educational,
Inspiring,
And written specifically to help your children and even you develop your full potential.
This tale is told by Blissberry's pal,
Poet Bear,
And is what Goldilocks might call Baby Bear Long.
As you listen,
Use your imagination to bring the words to life.
Creating pictures in your mind builds or increases your creative imagination,
Talents,
And skills the same way physical exercising builds your muscles.
Listening to fairy tales like this,
Where you create your own pictures,
Is the number one proven way to grow your imagination muscles.
Did you know a child's level of creativity is the basis on which their entire world and future success is built?
So right now,
Light up your imaginations like the tallest,
Brightest Christmas tree in the world and create pictures in your mind that make you feel joyful,
Wonderful,
And soulful as you listen.
Maybe you can even draw what you're imagining.
So get comfy and here we go.
On the 13th day of Christmas,
Some of my fondest birthday and holiday memories are of receiving books as gifts.
It was like getting a treasure chest I could open over and over forever,
Each time finding a brand new sparkling gem.
A gem that might spark my imagination or creative flair to start something that might help myself and others.
It was like each book was a little packet of secret seeds.
I had no idea what they would turn into,
But I knew deep down in my heart they would sprout into something I couldn't wait to find out about.
My favorite secret seeds were the ones that sprouted into lifetime blossoms of love,
Wisdom,
Instinct,
And kindness.
Colorful flowers of courage,
Brilliance,
Talent,
And more.
And especially petals of poetic flair.
Perhaps that's why I'm called Poet Bear.
And my favorite time of year to receive books for presents was Christmas.
Can you guess why?
Because the Great Bear,
Blissberry Bear,
And all my bear pals in the Great Bear Constellation celebrated the 12 days of Christmas.
And that meant I received a book every day for 12 days,
Starting Christmas Day.
Hip hip hooray!
And on January 6th,
The day before Epiphany in Christian Christmas celebrations,
I always seem to get a very special book surprise.
And in 2021,
I received a super duper book surprise.
My very own library all at once.
Almost a hundred books.
What a book bonanza that was.
I was so excited and delighted with that forever present.
I found myself writing this poem just for you on the 13th day of Christmas.
May its many wonderful rhyme-filled seeds of virtues,
Ideas,
And happiness planted among the sentences sprout into dreams come true for you and joy to the world.
So on this very special Christmas Eve,
I give to thee the blessings of this poem on the 13th day of Christmas.
On my very first Christmas,
God did gift to me a soul so blissful and free.
On the very next day,
God did gift to me my divine feminine and masculine equality expressed outwardly as a goddess or God me to accept and embrace in serenity.
On the third day of my birth,
God gifted me bodies three,
A mental and emotional and physical potpourri to once again walk on earth delightfully.
On the fourth day of my nativity,
God blessed me a heart with chambers four to kickstart my adventures in the land of relativity.
On day five of my divine delivery,
God bestowed me senses five,
Sight,
Smell,
Hearing,
Touch,
And one ever so tasty all to enjoy life feeling vibrant and oh so alive.
On day six,
Just for kicks,
God gave me a bag of tricks concealing my divine treasure,
Tempting me with pleasure after pleasure to escape this potential snare showing love's ever-present care.
On day seven,
Without a moment's hesitation,
God gave to me seven keys to heaven for being my divine expression.
Love,
All-powerful to overcome all fears.
Imagination,
My music of the spheres.
Faith,
Fortified with a spunky will,
Oh what a combo.
Open-mindedness to embrace and grow.
Thankfulness,
My never-ending ammo.
Peace with my body,
Mind,
Family,
Community,
Culture,
And ecology.
And above all else,
A burning desire to discover God within,
Free of ideology.
On day eight,
God gifted me pairs four to use as love's ambassador.
Two arms and two hands so grand,
Two legs and two feet on which to stand.
Limbs to walk,
Run,
Skip,
Jump,
Dance,
And play,
Swim,
Lift,
Reach,
Touch,
Feel,
Grasp,
And squeeze day after day,
And use in service to humanity in some way.
God gave to me on day nine a brain so powerful and divine,
Composed of parts three,
Divided into unique parts nine.
A cerebrum with lobes four,
Large as a cantaloupe,
So I wouldn't trudge through life as a hopeless dope.
And a cerebellum below it,
And next to the stem of this tree,
A stem with midbrain,
Pons,
And medulla,
Parts three.
And last but not least,
A brain cell unique to you and me,
Rose hip neurons that can put the brakes on other neuron activity.
On the 10th day of my creation,
God gave to me in joyful jubilation,
Two eyes,
Ears,
Nostrils,
And lips all in line,
Along with one tongue and skin so fine to delight in,
But not get addicted with since this five,
So I could thrive,
Never struggling to survive.
God connected my beautiful body all together on day 11 with systems 11,
So I'd live in seventh heaven.
Skeletal,
Exocrine,
Integumentary,
Muscular,
Circulatory,
Endocrine,
Immune,
Lymphatic,
Digestive,
Excretory,
Nervous,
Renal,
Reproductive,
And respiratory.
God's divine blueprint for communicatory glory.
On the 12th day of my very first Christmas birth,
God filled me with 12 virtues of priceless worth,
Which Plato's protege Aristotle put to word 300 years before the birth of Jesus,
Humanity's divine shepherd.
Virtues,
A fragrant path of moderation from which not to depart into vices of deficiency or tribulation,
Nor vices of excess counter to one's heart.
So be not lazy or single-minded,
Your ambitions unsurpassed.
Shun pettiness and vulgarity,
Your magnificence so vast.
Not cowardly or rash,
Encourage your steadfast.
Neither quarrelsome nor bootlicking,
As friendly you be,
Neither depraved nor deferential,
In justice you are steady.
Never in mean or self-sacrificing extremes,
Marvel in magnanimity.
Be not stingy or extravagant,
As generosity you ooze.
A pushover you're not,
Nor boisterous in any way,
Patience you choose.
Empty of envy and immorality,
Ever so content in modesty.
Not boorish or buffoonish,
Enjoy the wonders of being witty.
Not drowning in addiction or withdrawing in a cynicism,
Be temperate,
Full.
Poised in truthfulness,
Be neither self-deprecating nor boastful.
On the 13th day of my Christmas birth,
Mother Mary appeared to me,
Rejoicing in mirth.
She placed a radiant hand upon my heart,
Igniting a brilliant light that beamed upward to my eyes,
Sparking divine insight.
I saw a world where souls like me came and went,
Again and again learning lessons for which they were sent.
Some in that world focused mostly on things that came and went,
Things they couldn't take with them as their lifespan was spent.
I saw how when they returned to their supreme soul essence,
She would greet them again,
Rejoicing in the bubbly effervescence.
Touching their heart like mine,
She again ignited that light,
So brilliant,
Gracing them moments of divine insight.
Looking back on the life and world,
They just departed.
Most were shocked to see many things once thought essential were gone or no longer useful,
Now meaningless and inconsequential.
Feeling less than warm-hearted,
Sometimes even downhearted,
I watched in awe as Mother Mary would touch their heart again,
Sparking divine insights that triggered sighs of amen.
Divine insights of all the times they lived the Virtues Twelve,
Not collecting useless things that cluttered their shelves.
They saw friends still recalling their gestures of generosity,
Strangers whose hearts they touched with acts so friendly,
Children who remembered moments where patience they exercised instead of quickly reacting,
Leaving feelings of being chastised.
They saw acts of courage arising from the depths of their souls to achieve their divine ambitions and accomplish worthy goals.
Times when their chivalry shined so others would not be without,
And where their laughter,
Humor,
And wit shifted things about.
They saw truthful words,
Once spoken,
Still circulating,
Inspiring,
Touching hearts,
Encouraging,
Transforming,
Lovingly still whirling.
They appreciated themselves deeper than ever,
Gazing back clockwise.
On instances they chose poise and sensibility over fleeting highs.
Looking through the lens of Mother Mary's love,
Light,
And mirth,
On the thirteenth day of my divine soul's Christmas birth,
I fully understood the true value and virtue of my birth on earth,
More precious and rare than all gold,
Diamonds,
And treasures are worth.
And as Poet Bear loves to end every tale with wishes for your everlasting happiness and peace,
With prayers for peace among all people,
And with great love and great respect for your individual journey through life,
Poet Bear,
Blissberry Bear,
And I love you.
