A Christmas Light
by Alan HarrisTo a Reading by Alan Harris
At Christmas some will doubt--
they'd rather see first-hand
the legendary holy child
than hear fine stories told.
Some legends place a star
above the manger scene
to be a beacon guide
to men who had wise gifts--
but if a body of heaven
were wanted to remind folks
nowadays of this child
who was gifted and gave,
why not the unassuming moon,
whose quiet beaming gives
us all an inner warmth
akin to Yuletide happiness?
Humbly shines this second light,
relaying solar guiding rays
to people lost within a night
who wish to find a path.
Who hasn't sometimes wished
to thank the moon for glowing
above a ride back home
from church on Christmas Eve?
The lowly moon a Christmas light?
How daily seem its rays to us--
no special star sent from afar
that never will be seen again.
If peace and softness were
required, the moon has both.
If mystery were needed,
where could more be found?
Perhaps someone is in the moon,
as nursery rhymes suggest--
let's grant this may be true,
and this man or woman is you.
The moon inside you is
your inner manger birth,
and you inside the moon
shine gifts upon the earth.
