Once Upon A Christmas: Stories By James Dillet Freeman is an enchanting anthology of stories for the Christmas season. "Angel With a Broken Wing" is about a young boy's encounter with Mort, the angel of death - and the power of love to save one from the inevitable. Other stories include "The King of Heaven Is Coming Tonight" and "The Woman Who Learned To Love Christmas." Printed in profound bold type, and illustrated with humble yet beautiful color artwork, Once Upon A Christmas is a superbly crafted giftbook meant to be treasured and read aloud for the holidays year after year.

These ten stories are the only fiction ever written by poet, essayist, and philosopher James Dillet Freeman. They are filled with the love, compassion, and gentle humor that characterizes all of his writing, and range from the story of the foolish woodland denizens who know that "The King is Coming," but don't recognize Him when they see Him to the story of Rosa, who doesn't realize that the only gift she has to give is the greatest of any given, as told by St. Francis of Assisi. There is the Christmas story told as if it happened today, a story of love, and yet one which offended some readers. The stories are accompanied by beautiful pictures, bound in a very attractive book that one would proudly display on the coffee table during the Christmas season. This book would make a beautiful gift to yourself which will give new insight into the Truth told us in the Christmas story.

I shared this wonderful tape with a couple of friends yesterday afternoon, and by the time we had listened to the entire tape, we were sitting in silence, moved deeply by the entire tape, but especially by the reading of "There Was Once a Man of Love", the final selection on the tape which after the others was a beautiful climax.

James Dillet Freeman's poetry and prose come from his heart and spirit, and his spiritual insights are given with deep perception and a gentle humor...not humor that makes you laugh, but gentle, loving humor that brings a smile to your face. And yet, the sentiment in such readings as "The Little Saint" can cause your eyes to water, not from sadness but as a reaction to some deep truth revealed in the tale.

Freeman's best known works such as "I Am There" and "Prayer for Protection" (Both of which were left on the moon by the astronauts; the latter also being used as a group prayer in many churches) are included as well as "Make Me a Blessing, Lord," "The Traveler" and "Rivers Hardly Ever." Each of these works has its own richness. Personal favorites of mine are "A Fish Not Even Gold" and "The Cherry Tree". However, there isn't a poem or essay on the tape which fails to give deep spiritual insight.

I do warn you that the introduction at the beginning is a bit long, but worth listening to as a deeper insight into the man and his writing...and the comments between Freeman's readings are of value.

If you are a spiritual person, not necessarily religious at all, this is a tape I personally believe you will treasure and listen to time and again...and share as I have with friends.

I am indeed an admirer of James Dillet Freeman's writings, ranking him with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman.

Although this book (originally mistitled "Happiness Can Be A Habit" by an earlier publisher) is an extended essay, it is profoundly poetic and also profoundly spiritual. The title poem sets the tone for the book, and the forward gives insight into the author. He does not consider his writing to be truly his own, but the result of putting down thoughts that "Angels Sing In Me".

This book is a spiritual, joyful, loving look at the world and the life we live. Freeman shares his uplifting philosophy with us throughout the book...every chapter and part of chapter has important insights, though there are definite peaks. Chapter Four, "Life's infinite variety", begins with the beautiful "One morning in my garden", wherein he speaks of the life within everything...even in the rocks and the earth. The chapter ends with "The I of me" which contains some of the most meaningful lines in the book...starting with the sentence, "Perhaps I am most like a song" and continuing through the last line of the section. Chapter five, "God's free gifts", includes the section, "We are not splinter people" in which he questions if a God who is intelligence and love would have created "a world where nothing lives but something dies" and ends with the thought that this "is also a world where nothing dies but something lives!" In chapter seven, "Perfect world--perfect man", he gives us "A vision of perfection", a vision which might not be as desirable as one would think and follows up in chapter eight, "Your own heaven, your own hell" with an unexpected "vision of Hell", unexpected since the subject of Hell is hardly one you encounter often in his writings. And I think you'll definitely like that vison...it's not what you might expect. In chapter ten, "It all makes sense", he shares two of his best writings drawn from his garden experiences...the story of the cherry tree in the section, Life is effort", and "A fish not even gold"...both of these using nature to show us basic Truths. I hope I've done some sort of justice to this book...you'll find it a profound spiritual and uplifting experience.

Incidentally, the forward of this book as well as the story of the cherry tree and "A fish not even Gold" are read by the author on the audiotape, "Angels Sing In Me", also available on this site.

Learning that my son's mother has been diagnosed with an inoperable cancer, I have just read this book for the second time and am amazed at what I missed the first time. Especially meaningful is the placing of James Dillet Freeman's most famous poem (It was placed on the moon by one of the astronauts), "I Am There" at the end of the "Contending with God" part of the book. Another facet I missed the first time was the descriptions of various people he needed to deal with during this period of his life. Everyone who has contact with not only those who are dying, but with those who are to be bereaved, or already are can learn from this book.

I myself feel that the book is not depressing but uplifting, however the reader should be prepared to accompany the author through the challenges he faced as a deeply spiritual person who discovers that he's totally unprepared for loss of his wife. While reading the book, one is impressed especially by her strength of spirit. There are passages where he indicates that her strength was greater than his.

There is honesty here as he deals with the fact that he went through a period of doubting that there is a loving presence in the universe. All in all, this is a book I honestly recommend, but with the caution that this is my perspective. Some readers may read more into the sorrow than into the love, but indeed, the love is there.

It is unfortunate that this book's out of print. Written by a poet and thinker comparable to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman, this book includes one of the greatest of the author's writings, "There Once Was A Man of Love", a deeply spiritual, loving, joyful, even gently humorous look at the ministry, life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

All in all, a book worth searching for.