Refugees

Lest we forget:

Jesus was a refugee.

Joseph and Mary, compelled

to travel-- poor and pregnant,

and unannounced—to Bethlehem,

where (no doubt) the people

(not just the innkeeper)

balked at this influx of

tired and dirty arrivals.

Who could feed and house

and clothe them all?

But one man offered them his barn…

Threatened even there,

they fled to Egypt where

other people looked at them

askance.

Living is not easy on the run:

no money, no shelter,

nowhere to go but forward,

nothing to swallow

but your pride.

Refugees.

And  today, we celebrate

in our warm and well-fed way

one refugee who taught us

how to treat the less-fortunate.

Yet, we lavish gifts upon ourselves

and ignore the faces at the window,

ignore his counsel,

ignore the need and hunger,

the cold and the homeless,

bleating out our “Merry Christmas”es

not knowing

what that means.