Twas the day before Christmas
I try to do a new one each year. This one I did for our church. It includes some references that you might not understand, so for clarity:
Our pastor used to have a '71 Vette and speaks of it fondly. Another pastor, Dave, got on the senior pastor's case about all the plastic bottles he drinks from. Rocky is an old man who will tackle you if he sees you taking food or drink into "his" sanctuary. Ver Hoven runs the PowerPoint and it often doesn't jive with the words being sung
'Twas the day before Christmas, when all through the church
Those seeking Jesus continued their search;
The greeters and ushers met people with care
Praying that they would find relationship there
My kids’ hair looked like they just rolled out of bed,
We sent them downstairs so their souls could be fed
Then mamma with her latte’, and me with my Joe,
Had just settled down in our usual row (don’t tell Rocky we brought drinks in)
When up on the stage, there arose such a sound,
We sprang from our seats, as did those all around.
Jon strummed his guitar, and everyone heard
A choir of angels singing God’s Word.
Outside the weather was calling for snow
But inside were hearts with flames all aglow
when, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But an early 70’s Vette with 8 cylin-deers
With a little old driver, who had much to say,
I knew in a moment it must be Gocha.
He took to the stage, not a hair out of place
Then preached from the heart with a furious pace
"Now, children! Now, grownups! Now, saints and sinners!
In the eyes of the Lord, you are all winners!
The big ones, the small ones, the short and the tall
He loves you completely, He loves you all!"
As dry throat before quenched with water from plastic,
He now drank from glass, and Dave said, “Fantastic!”
And up in balcony, Ver Hoven and crew,
Tried hard to keep the PowerPoint on cue
Avoiding a cold in this place is much labor
When you’re told to greet ninety-two of your neighbors
I shook some hands, and then I turned around
And was shocked to see the sight I had found.
A man who looked filthy from his head to his foot,
His clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
He clutched an old Bible, its binding so worn
Each page tinted yellow, most of them torn.
But his eyes -- how they twinkled! I felt sort of leery
How could this old man be the least bit cheery?
I shook his hand and said, “How do you do?”
He answered, “I’m blessed, and I know you are too.”
His face was quite wrinkled, he had few of his teeth,
But I sensed something more to the man underneath;
A new song was played and I turned back around
But my thoughts seemed to drown out all other sound
I pondered the bills that I had to pay
I thought of how much I worry today
This old man so haggard, still at peace through it all
But me? It seemed I had no faith at all
At the end of the sermon, I turned once again
But a chair now empty stood where he’d been
I looked through the crowd, the doors, and then past,
He couldn’t have been able to move all that fast!
Although the meeting was certainly odd
His demeanor made me see my life through God.
It came to me on that Christmas night
The more you have faith, the less you need sight
