First Tuesday of Advent

Read Psalm 146


if you're happy . . .

this Christmas,

if i want to

delight her

(or so i am told),

i can find just the right gift

at the jewelers,

or the car dealer,

or from the local purveyor

of furs;

this season,

if i want to put

a smile on his face

(or so the celebs say),

i can gift wrap

a snowblower,

put the keys to a riding mower

in his stocking,

offer gold (toss in the frankincense

and myrrh if needed)

to get those hard-to-come-by

tix for THE GAME;

this year

(and every year, the ad gods proclaim)

if we want to hear the youngsters

shout for joy,

we simply get the next generation

mobile (with every possible app),

ebay every day till we outbid the world

on that impossible-to-find

(media approved and driven)

toy,

pay any price for every thing

on their list.

but true

this-is-what-it's all-about

happiness?

we'll find that

shivering in the bitter cold

collecting coats for kids

who have only a thin shirt

standing between them

and winter's breath;

visiting every politician's office

over and over and over,

as self-employed lobbyists

for the poor, the marginalized,

the forgotten;

joining you down at the

soup kitchen,

chopping carrots, peeling spuds,

clearing the tables, doing the dishes

(all those back-aching, feet-numbing

spiritual gifts we forget we have),

so others might know your

Joy.

(c) 2010 Thom M. Shuman