Going Home

Traditional Christmas message

Four years ago, I posted the following message for the first time.

Times are tough for so many in 2011, but tough doesn't begin to describe what some of these children are living through.

'Twas the night before Christmas in the old neighborhood,
But to look around, you would think nothing good.

Few lights were hung, no dollars to spare.
Most houses were gone, others were bare.

The children who remained stuck in this place,
Dared not dream of presents or futures to embrace.

[More:]

Why would Santa come here when fear kept others away,
Even on this occasion, the year's holiest day?

No matter what the calendar says for the rest,
The kids here on Dobel just hope for the best.

And what that means for them, is something different for you.
It's hard to comprehend what they're going through.

Imagine waking up on a cold winter's night,
Looking out your front door at this God-awful sight.

The house to the right is burnt-out to the eaves.
The one on the left is all gone like fall's leaves.

The park down the street, once shiny and vibrant,
Is now broken-down, rusted like an old fire hydrant.

The neighborhood school and gym, former places to gather,
Are closed to the children as if they don't matter.

Worse yet, when there's a clatter in this part of town,
You know it ain't Santa, you dive for the ground.

In years gone by singers beckoned this call:
In Africa do they know it's Christmas at all?

What I ask of you on this Christmas day,
Is to think of kids a lot closer than Zimbabwe.

They live a short drive from you, perhaps a 10-mile spread.
They see no visions of sugar plumbs and have plenty to dread.

Their home was ours once, only it was filled with dreams then.
With our prayers and love, maybe, just maybe, it can be that way again.

Audio slideshow: Do they know it's Christmas?

Comments, Pingbacks:

Comment from: Mike Wisniewski [Member] · http://lacatholicworker.org

Thanks again posting it, Mike. Prayers, thoughts, and love are with them, and all that suffer in dire poverty and oppressive conditions. I pray also for a conversion of heart of this nation that we may become a nation of peace with justice, rather than a warring empire that seeks to dominate and spew death and destruction wherever its hand touches. May we repent and disarm, and may God have mercy on US.

Permalink 12/19/11 @ 20:54