It’s the week before Christmas
And throughout the land
People opining
It’s got out of hand
The Amazon couriers
Queue at the gate
With Evri and Yodel
They dare not come late
Are the shops filled with shoppers
Are the tills ringing clear?
I don’t know as I’ve hardly been in one this year.
But the freezer is groaning
The fridge is replete
Yet somehow just now we’ve got nothing to eat.
It’s all a bit much and we’re down on our knees
Not thanksgiving for Jesus but decking the trees
In each heart, in each home we try to fulfil
The promise attached to this time of goodwill.
While out in the world
There is famine, there’s war
There are homeless and stateless
Just as before
“There’s no room”, it seems,
Politicians begin
Just as 2000 years back
There was no room at the inn
It’s hard still to believe the promise to earth
The angels gave us at the time of that birth
But maybe the light in each tiny child’s eye
Will give us another star to steer by.
Wherever you are, with family or alone
With those whom you love or with memories dear
May the spirit of Christmas bring you hope and good cheer
And raise with me a glass to a peaceful New Year
