A Modern Christmas
The angels descended with blazing wings
singing GLORIA in a chorus of a thousand voices
but the shepherds took for granted
the special effects and the full surround sound
and they found the Child and His Mother
in a stable
the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes
and they felt a kind of emotional pity
as when they saw photos of starving orphans
in Africa
and they said
.
Sorry but we have nothing to give
only escalating piles of debt
mortgage and insurance payments
ever-increasing taxes
and joyless jobs that we work from 9 to 5
for the rich overlords who take from us
our petty gains
.
We cannot afford anything
not even the 1.5 children who baffle us
with their strange fashions and desires
and who are baffled by us in return
who will one day grow into joyless workers
and put us away in our old age
as men put down a sick dog
.
We have nothing to offer
but the ennui of those who rush madly
from distraction to distraction
and the casual adulteries
offhand murders
the sickly sweet vices of worn-out lusts
the enthralling fascination with illusory violence
and the sleepless nights spent trying to forget
what we are and what we have become
.
And the Child looked on the shepherds
with the wise eyes of One who has seen all things
and He said
.
I accept
the debts
and the distractions
the petty sorrows that break your hearts
the sleepless nights
and misunderstandings
the false joys and mindless lusts
I ask for no other gifts
For though their weight be more than the worldās weight
My shoulders will bear the burden
.
And the shepherds asked
But if you take this away from us
what will we have?
And the Child said
.
Peace
.
But not as the world gives
Peace within chaos
and in the midst of war
Stillness at the heart of disorder
Joy that no man can take from you
with mindless violence
or cruel words
The joy of those who have nothing to lose
because they have given everything they have
.
And the eternal Child in the manger smiled
with empty wounded hands
while outside the stable the bombs exploded
and the sharp staccato of machine guns
pierced the night
.
And the angels sang
Peace on earth
to men of good will
.
But only the shepherds heard
