A poem for the season of Advent:
WHERE IS THE LOVE?

Prosperity preachers bring messages of wealth.

They say, “Believe in the Lord, God,
and all things shall be given unto you.”
People fill stadiums to hear such words of just due.
Prosperity preachers prosper,
while their loyal flocks can only hope to.

Fear politicians get lots more votes.

Frightened, the people lock their doors and
cover their eyes and ears.
There are criminals, murderers, and terrorists to stop,
Preemptive war is applauded and cheered,
Our president's answer is simply,
“Don’t worry, just shop.”
Such politicians prosper, while the people live in fear.

The woe of children and old people with
no healthcare, our prisons overflow,
shelters replace home sweet home
But it seems that no one cares, meanwhile…
Jobs are sent overseas, and the
rich get richer while the rest are left to bleed.

Christmas lights glitter, grotesque inflatable reindeer
and Santas reproduced across front yards like rabbits
with ease,
as the middle class suffers from Bush’s economic
disease.
Alas, Love disappears from this terrible scene.

Food pantry shelves reveal little wares.
Do those with aplenty have nothing to spare?
Are those facing foreclosure the ones who had cared?

With the Grinches in charge the situation seems bleak.
Is there no justice, no mercy, no prophet to speak?

Where will Love be born this season pray tell?
Is the manger, God forbid, in foreclosure as well?
Just when all seems lost and forlorn,
a star appears in the East,
Light pierces darkness,
an angel’s voice we hear speak,

Wait a minute, excuse me, isn’t this exactly what
happened before?
No manger, no cradle, no crib for His head?
Love doesn’t need a cradle, a mattress, or a pillow
instead
What Love needs is an open heart and, perhaps,
a rollaway bed.

Can you find no room, even the tiniest spot,
Where the kingdom of God might rest on a cot?
It needn’t take much, just a manger of sorts,
For the power of Love to transform this sad course.

This is the season of the coming of Love.
Receive it with grace, this gift from Above.
The world will soon perish, I fear, with greed as its gain,
We must hasten, not wait, there is just too much pain.

It is we, yes, ourselves, who must become what was
once before,
the manger, that birthplace of love so adored.
There’s no time to hesitate, no time to wait,
cast off all prejudice, greed, anger, fear, and hate.

Our time is critical, for this Holy Babe cannot wait,
The sad world needs a savior, a messiah, a saint!
The coming of Love is upon us, and thank Goodness
not too late,
this gift of God’s kingdom, from our own Love
We can and we must create.

May it be so.

In faith and love,
Cathy