The first one arrived today, Lord,
with Halloween more than a week away
(not to mention a month till Thanksgiving)...
The first one, Lord, with more to follow -
I'm as sure of that as I am of your birthday
yet two months away...
The first one, Lord:
this season's first catalogue of
things I don't need,
things that my family and friends don't need,
things that will surely wear out
then be thrown into piles of all the things
that none of us need
but so many of us think we want...
A holiday catalogue of
things I don't need
yet, things that beguile ,
lure and seduce me
as sure as that fruit in the garden of Eden,
now photographed, catalogued
and hanging so low...
A catalogue of things I don't need
when at the same time, Lord,
there are so many things
I dearly, truly, deeply need:
things that I'll never find
in a catalogue, flyer or ad
for there's neither a price nor a discount
on things I really need...
I know I need love - your love, Lord -
and while I know that I have it
I'm often unmindful, distracted by
the bright and the shiny,
the new and improved,
the fastest, the biggest,
the smallest, the smartest,
the cleverly, beautifully wrapped
and the neatly presented on page after page
in catalogues brimming with
- things I don't need...
Don't let me fall for it this year, Lord!
Help me make a distinction between
the things that I need and don't need,
between things that I want but don't really need,
between all that I already have
and the extras I surely could do without,
between all I treasure and hold as greater
than anything I will ever find
in catalogues
of things that I don't really need...
Amen.
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