Many years have passed
Since my last Christmas tale
Due to my holiday spirit
Continuing to fail
Christmases came and went
An annual time marker
Each year, my views became
Increasingly darker
Such evil in the world
With no rhyme or reason
How could I enjoy
The Christmas season?
One night I was brooding
With my cynical gloom
When a visitor suddenly
Appeared in my room
It had been many years
Since we had last met
But Santa was back
Not done with me yet
“Your mood has been noticed”
He did solemnly declare
As he led me out
Into the winter night air
“You need more perspective
So come with me
On a trip around the world
With much you should see”
My hopes were small
A pitiful microbe
Yet I joined Santa
On this journey of the globe
I climbed into his sleigh
And we then did depart
But grim feelings stayed
Within my cold heart
We travelled far and wide
North, South, East, and West
But to me, everything seen
Was just as bad as the rest
In Colombia, we saw
Families and friends cry
For to a young man
They were saying goodbye
In the wrong place
And at the wrong time
An innocent victim
Of a drug-fueled crime
Deep in the Amazon
The river flows with refuse
For the natives, lives and culture
They continue to lose
We visited Munich
And its boisterous beer halls
Where years ago, the world
First heard Nazi calls
To more and more nations
We continued to travel
And mankind it seemed
Continued to unravel
Chain linked camps we see
Holding many a family
From much brutality
They so desperately flee
Around South Africa
Reminders of apartheid
Separating humanity
Across a racial divide
We walked the streets of India
Poverty filled the air
Beggars constantly asking
What people could spare
Many people I met
With deep struggles within
Some hoping to die
Just so their pain would end
Throughout the world
Greed and exploitation
Men, women, and children
Living in desperation
Drugs and bodies for sale
Filling a depraved appetite
With hardly any semblance
Of a sense of wrong or of right
We take what we want
Caring not for suffering
For we have come to view
Each person as a thing
As it seemed our trip
Was coming to a close
Nothing was better
And my anger then rose
“Why show me this?
To show the world’s not fair?
Or simply to prove
That God does not care?”
Santa looked at me
Slowly shook his head
Then sighed deeply
And finally said
“For as intelligent as you
Think yourself to be
You have missed the point
Of this entirely”
“Let’s try again”
With frustration on his lip
“But pay attention
On this second trip”
“Focus not on problems
Or those that complain
For they do nothing
To ease the world’s pain”
“Pay attention to those
Who make it their charge
To make any difference
Be it small or be it large”
To many of those places
We then did return
But now I witnessed
Faith and hope burn
In a country that suffered
Decades of war and strife
Young and old worked together
Towards peace and a better life
I met people who in the past
Had lost a close friend
And in his honor now
Help their community to mend
Volunteers keep watch
Over cold, treacherous seas
In case rescue is needed
Of scared and desperate refugees
In sight of Kilimanjaro
And in the land down under
Humans dedicated to animals
Their work I watched in wonder
I walked through cells
Of men that risked all
To fight oppression
Answering history’s call
We sailed on a ship
Crossing the rolling sea
The crew working together
Overcoming any disability
Across the world were many
Who have made their vocation
Giving children in need
Both health and education
For a year and a half,
Santa took me everywhere
To witness shining examples
Of heroes that care
At last we completed
That journey so indirect
Santa then gave me something
On which to reflect
“You dwell on the world’s ills
Wondering what God will do
But He’s already begun
He has created you”
“Yes, the world has problems
Across a great range
But He’s given each the power
To bring about change”
It’s time for me to end
Wishing Merry Christmas
But before I go
I leave you with this
Always remember
Every action has worth
So what is the Christmas gift
You will give to the Earth?