Christmas, as a “holyday”, is a time of service; it is a time when families come together to celebrate, and enjoy each other and the good things that are abundant among them. Though many people use the occasion for purposes other than service to those in need, or to those who are less fortunate, it does not detract from the essence of the “holyday”.
The following poem aptly describes the reason for the season.
By Marian Wright Edelman
I Care And I Am Willing To Serve
Lord I cannot preach like Martin Luther King, Jr.
or turn a poetic phrase like Maya Angelou
but I care and I am willing to serve.
I do not have Harriet Tubman’s courage
or Franklin Roosevelt’s political skills
but I care and I am willing to serve.
I cannot sing like Fannie Lou Hamer
or organize like Bayard Rustin
but I care and I am willing to serve.
I am not holy like Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
forgiving like Nelson Mandela,
or disciplined like Mahatma Gandhi
but I care and I am willing to serve.
I am not brilliant like Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
or as eloquent as Sojourner Truth and Booker T. Washington
but I care and I am willing to serve.
I have not Mother Teresa’s saintliness,
Dorothy Day’s love or Cesar Chavez’s
gentle tough spirit
but I care and I am willing to serve.
God it is not as easy as it used to be
to frame an issue and to forge a solution
but I care and I am willing to serve.
I can’t see or hear well or speak good English,
I stutter sometimes, am afraid of criticism,
and get real scared standing up before others
but I care and I am willing to serve.
I’m so young
nobody will listen
I’m not sure what to say or do
but I care and I am willing to serve.
Use me as Thou will today and tomorrow, to help build a nation and world where no child is left behind and everyone feels welcome and justly treated.
