What If? Poem by Mary Spain

What if there never was a virgin birth,
No cattle bearing witness to the sight;
What if no angels sang of peace on earth,
No star shone tribute in the winter's night?
What if it were a dream? Would aught remain
Within the ashes of a cherished myth
To raise the cry 'Hosannah! ' and sustain
Man's soaring spirit on the wings of faith?
I know not, Lord, what history would flout
But Christmas bids us leave our flocks for thee,
And calls us through the darkness of our doubt
Towards the light of thy nativity.
We need not journey to a distant inn
When faith, and hope, and love are born within.