‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through my pad
There was not much remaining of the life I once had
No stockings were hanging where they did once before
No holiday trimmings or wreath on the door
The only reminder that Christmas was soon
Were the tv commercials and some Christmas cartoons
The holiday tree, once my annual display
Was still packed in boxes tucked safely away
A candle or two with some holiday scent
A familiar aroma of what Christmas once meant
For most it’s a day filled with high expectation
Shared with family and friends in great celebration
While for others a haunting of those who are missing
It’s a day much like others, alone and just wishing
In moments of silence and thoughtful reflection
We relive Christmas Past from now faint recollection
A tragic mass shooting, diseases like cancer
We approach Christmas morning with more questions than answers
Where is the fairness in being left all alone
Could I have done something different if only I’d known
The heat and the passion I once felt from love’s fire
Now replaced by the chill of extinguished desire
But then a still voice softly whispers the reason
The purpose and meaning of each Christmas season
In the midst of the trials and the turmoil on earth
We pause to reflect on the night of Christ’s birth
He came for the lonely, the forgotten, the least
The God of creation now the Prince of our Peace
To comfort those mourning and to dry up their tears
With a promise of hope that removes all our fears
It’s but one special moment we pause to remember
But it goes far beyond just one night in December
He came as Messiah, the one perfect light
To chase away shadows on those dark lonely nights
To offer redemption to those who believe
Like he did for the shepherds on that first Christmas Eve
It’s a gift for regifting you won’t find at the mall
No need for a sale, offered freely to all
So for us left alone, the ones brokenhearted
Due to severed relations or the recent departed
Don’t be chained to the sorrows of Christmases Past
But find hope for the future and a peace that will last
In the birth of a child and a King’s coronation
Come and let us adore him, the God of creation
So the day that once seemed much too painful for some
Yields to child-like excitement when Christmas Day comes.
Merry Christmas from Papajoe, 2017
