Letter to the Editor: Just thoughts

Dear Editor:
We are approaching the Christmas season.
A season of peace and goodwill in memory of the birth of Jesus,
Whose cross rose on Calvary Hill.
In His time there were dishonest officers, too.
Who were supposed to uphold the law,
Yet closed their eyes to the crimes of the day
So they couldn’t report what they saw.
The world hasn’t changed one iota since then.
Except there are quite a few more who hide behind their politics,
With the word Justice inscribed on their door.
Our forefathers fought and bled and died for a nation of freedom and right
A nation whose people could live without fear
A nation of honor and might
A nation whose fame as a democracy reached out across the sea and offered a sanctuary.
A safe place for you and me.
Our country became a melting pot
Where people from every clime
Came and pioneered the industries
Which have made our lives sublime.
Then man with his love of money, love of power and greed
Discarded all these freedoms
In thought and word and deed.
They are the corrupters of our nation
From high offices to low.
The care not for honest government.
Just so they get the dough.
An honest man doesn’t have a chance
To serve his fellow men.
If he says one word against their kind
He’s in the lion’s den.
Fraud and kickbacks in construction work
A higher tax each year
In order to keep the parasites
Are things we have to fear.
The U.N. isn’t too united.
Their budget falls far short.
When Russia is asked to pay her part
Khrushchev begins to snort.
Yet he wants Red China recognized
So the Commies can have more say
And stir up a little more trouble
Like the mess in Cuba today.
So here we are at Christmas time,
With all this turmoil inside.
I doubt if there’d be an inn today
Where the Christ child could abide.
It isn’t a pretty story I’ve printed on these pages
But it’s always been the same sad tale
Repeated through the ages.
Repeated too is the cry for peace
And the hope for good will among men
A cry and a hope that will echo
‘Til Christ comes to earth again.
So sing he Christmas carols
The old sweet story repeat
Of the babe that was born in Bethlehem
And the gifts that were laid at his feet.
I guess that’s why we have Christmas
To make us remember again
Those magic words of the carols
Peace on earth and goodwill to men.
By Deltha Taylor, circa 1961
Submitted by Shirley Taylor
Meeker