A musical prayer of confession

O little town of Where-We-Live
you surely know the score.
We give to those who give to us
and overlook the poor.
The homeless and the widows
don’t have much Christmas cheer.
How can they when they live without
the basics through the year?

But we who live with all we need
take all of it in stride.
The holidays are good to us.
We rarely are denied.
We bake our Christmas cookies
and gather with our friends.
A concert here, a party there
and then the season ends.

But somehow something’s missing
in spite of what we do.
If honest, we’re quite empty
and joys it seems are few.
We end each year resolving
to break with old routines
and yet come next December
we’re like we’ve always been.

This Christmas may God give us eyes
to see what makes Him cry.
And hearts to feel the pain he knows
when plans for justice die.
As shepherds left their livestock
we’re called to leave our flock
to seek the place where Christ is found
uptown or down the block.

* These lyrics can be sung to the tune of O Little Town of Bethlehem