Busting the Ghosts of Christmas Past

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

Looking out for the lost and lonely this time of year

There are movies, meals and concerts,
special programs, lights and trees.
It’s a season when we celebrate with style.
But this month of celebration
is quite difficult for some
who disguise their private pain behind a smile.

Let’s be sensitive to others
who will still put up a tree
but for whom the joyful carols trigger tears.
Far too many are still haunted
by the ghosts of Christmas past
who will make their presence known this time of year.

While enjoying festive functions,
be alert to those nearby
for whom silent night is more than just a song.
If appropriate, invite them
to take part in what you’ve planned.
Let’s remind the lost and lonely, they belong.

Racial Unrest is Ripping Our Country Apart

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

Are the facts really black and white?

There’s rioting in Ferguson,
Seattle, New Orleans
Chicago, New York, Oakland and LA.
And while so many people
think the facts are black and white,
I am inclined to think they’re mostly gray.

An officer when cornered
can resort to deadly force
to confront someone who’s threatening his life.
But must he shoot to kill
instead of aiming at ones knees?
Especially when they have no gun nor knife?

And must we rush to judgment
thinking white cops are to blame
whenever someone black flees from arrest?
The growing tension’s troubling.
It’s tearing us apart.
And where it leads is anybody’s guess.

A Thanksgiving Hymn for a Divided Nation

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

Focusing on God instead of Ferguson, Missouri

With gratitude
we raise our hands toward Heaven
in praise and worship of the God we serve.
We have been blessed
with mercies beyond number.
God’s faithfulness exceeds what we deserve.
With hands held high,
we reach to One who loves us
much like a child who longs to be embraced.

With gratitude
we raise our hands toward Heaven
convinced our world is governed by God’s plan.
When violence
disrupts the peace we pray for,
when prejudice and fear divide our land,
with hands held high
submitting to God’s purpose,
we gratefully declare that God is love.

With gratitude
we raise our hands toward Heaven
acknowledging the One who’s in control.
We humbly bow
before our Lord and Maker
relinquishing our bodies, minds and souls.
With hands held high, we gratefully surrender
to One who works all things for God’s own good.

tune: FINLANDIA

A Doctor’s Death and the Birth of Terrorism

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

Remembering the martyrdom of Paul Carlson fifty years later

A year and two days after
our young President was killed,
a sniper’s bullet found the rebel’s aim.
A missionary doctor
loved in Congo and at home
left a legacy while gaining tragic fame.

Paul Carlson died trying
to escape and climb a wall.
He came so close to finding freedom’s gate.
But this young, brave physician
paid a martyr’s sum instead
while succumbing to the violence of hate.

That dark day in November
back in 1964
life became a time we never will forget.
A world defined by terror
and the death of innocence
still reminds us of sin’s never-ending debt.

And now fifty long years later
what played out in Stanleyviile
is a script that’s followed far too frequently.
Terror’s drama owns the headlines
as aid workers lose their heads
while we pray to God for justice endlessly.

Lord, have mercy! End the violence!
Don’t neglect the orphan’s cry.
Hear the prayer of victims paralyzed by fear.
Grace the grieving with assurance
that Your Kingdom will yet come
and that You will wipe away each anguished tear.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Carlson

Can the Two Become One?

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

Here’s hoping the new Congress can make vows of unity

Now that Congress has a reddish tinge
and isn’t quite as blue,
Republicans at last have cause to gloat.
But gloating isn’t what we need.
It is time for things to change.
Our nation voiced their wishes with their vote.

Perhaps we’d best remember that
not all that long ago
the leaders of our country made amends.
While Tip O’Neill and Reagan
disagreed much of the time,
they found a way to function as good friends.

Consider how at weddings
when we’re ushered how we’re asked
which side we’d like to sit on, groom or bride.
Yes, an aisle separates us,
but when all is said and done
what divides the guests is really not that wide.

Can’t both parties learn a lesson
from this wedding metaphor?
While there’s reason to draw lines from which we’ve come,
a marriage of two people
takes in stride their different strokes
as they promise to find ways to live as one.