(For the Parents of the Children Killed @ Sandy
Hook School on December 14, 2012) By
Arlene B. Muller
This year a silent
morning will follow their silent night,
As their tear-worn
eyes view your empty bed as they walk to the Christmas tree.
They remember
Christmas mornings, when yours was the first face they’d see,
When your glowing face
and your shining eyes were like lights on their Christmas tree.
How could it be
Christmas! What a silent day it could
be!
No squeals of delight,
no child opening presents under the Christmas tree!
How could it be
Christmas! It feels like a mockery!
For you were their
light; you were their angel; you were the star on their tree.
Nothing is calm. Nothing is bright. Darkness is all that they see,
As they kneel before
an empty manger under their Christmas tree.
A Child was born. A Son was given. But their child was taken away.
Come, JESUS, come,
fill their aching hearts as they kneel by their Christmas tree.
Then it could be
Christmas! Then a healing day it could
be,
Though no squeals of
delight or child opening presents kneels under their Christmas tree.
Come, come fill their
Christmas! Let it not be a mockery!
You came as a
Child. You came as the Light—
Be born in their lives—Be
born in their hearts—As they kneel by their Christmas tree.
© Copyright 2012 by Arlene B. Muller (Arlene Clare
Muller, OSF)
