Have You Really Seen Christmas
Verse 1
“Have you really seen Christmas?”
my dear children asked,
with joyful anticipation
as they pounced in my lap.
“Why sure I have!”
I blurted out,
ready to tell them with a joyful shout.
But then,
I stopped and pondered deep,
the question they had asked.
Had I really seen Christmas?
This troubled me…
For I’ve seen shadows of men
walk desolate streets,
tattered and torn,
with no place to sleep.
While mothers stand
in the hand out line,
their down trodden faces
stuck in time.
And desperate children cling below,
their short little lives,
who will know?
I’ve seen good men die
a thousand deaths,
weighed and measured
with their last breath.
With loyalty and devotion
they pass the test.
But their wives,
do they not cry and mourn,
and lay them to rest?
I’ve seen wars,
and wars,
and rumors of wars,
tear nations into shreds.
While one man tears another down,
verbally,
until he’s all but dead.
I’ve seen shouts of anger and rage and lying and stealing
and hatred and murder and jealousy and…
Have I really seen Christmas?
Yes my children, yes!
But not in the cold wintry snow,
listing gently
through the sky.
Nor in the sweet spiraling perfume,
of Christmas pumpkin pie.
And not from the tree,
the Christmas tree,
trimmed in silver and gold.
Or the warm embrace
of a friendly face,
underneath the mistletoe.
Though the joyful expressions
of little faces,
are especially dear
upon this eve.
All of these are just the wrappings,
of the Christmas that I’ve seen.
For I saw Christmas
2000 years past,
when angels sang
and shepherds gasped.
When the God of creation
bestowed His holy plan.
The Son,
clothed in flesh and bone did come,
and for us,
became man.
And I saw Christmas,
when He lived His life,
healing the sick
and lame and blind.
Though evil men plotted
and hated and scorned,
He continued in Love,
and did not leave us unborn.
And I saw Christmas
when they falsely accused,
And whipped Him and beat Him
til bloody and bruised.
The Crown of thorns
they sunk in His head,
as He slumped on the tree,
and hung until dead.
As the mountains trembled,
and the sinners did pray,
I saw Christmas perfected,
on that day.
Yes my children,
I’ve seen Christmas,
and I’ll see it one more time...
when the ills of mankind
receive deaths blows,
and we leave our unholy
bodies below,
and meet Him in the sky.
Now, your precious little faces
shine bright in the night,
from the fireplace glowing
and the tree and the lights.
The stockings are all hung
and the candles are aglow,
but there is one last thing,
I want you to know.
If I speak of gifts,
tis but one gift I will speak.
As God gave Jesus to me,
It is Him,
to you my children,
I will leave.
Verse 2
Have you really seen Christmas,
Have you looked into its eyes,
Have you tread the Shepherds glorious path,
to hear the newborn's cries?
Doth angelic utterance
still attend your listless ears,
does your heart still rise up to meet?
Or is Glory to God all but lost to you,
amidst the clatter
of the vainglorious street.
Come out! Come out!
from your silver bells,
and gilded memories
of Kringled elves.
Come out! Come out!
from your whitewashed steeples,
filled with tickled
and itching people.
For cold is the heart,
the Shepherds journey doth offend.
O' don't you remember...
that luminous scene,
when the Angelic chorus
rang out through your fields once serene?
Don't you remember?
Does it's peaceful beam
still endure in your mind,
or is it lost to soul-less things,
and clouded with age and time.
Come now, all ye faithful,
inspect your selves anew,
have you left the Christ... for Christmas,
and the simplicity of the Christ's story too?
I pray thee young and old,
let me recount this story to you...
For away in a manger
in the little town of Bethlehem,
God's one and only Son appeared,
the Savior of all men.
He came upon that midnight clear,
on that most glorious and Holy night,
to put to death the sting of sin,
and rescue men from deaths dark blight.
For in that bleak mid winter,
a glorious light had been unfurled,
it's generous rays penetrated the cold cruel deep,
to bring joy to the waiting world.
Maybe you have missed it,
amidst your clanging and caroling bells.
But let the light of Christ shine in your heart tonight,
while you still have time to sing, your first noel.
Then follow that glorious Shepherds path,
the road is not so far,
and humble yourself before the infant king,
lying 'neath the Bethlehem star.
By U.Art.Known