Christmas Wants

What do you want for Christmas?
Ah the truth the answer to no other questions
So complete serves as an index of what we are at heart
At other times of the year we can pretend and make believe
But at Christmas time our true nature reveals itself
And we act from the hidden motives that dominate our lives
Come with me this Yule tide
And let the heart express those wishes
It has ever longed for but never dared express
What is it we want
I want a few sincere friends who understand my loneliness
Yet remind loyal when I am silent
I want a growing capacity to understand
And respond to the unuttered sufferings of others
Knowing that they fight as hard a battle against many odds even as I
I want a sense of duty tempered with beauty
A conception of work as a privilege
And urge to justice mainly with mercy
And a feeling that responsibility is my debt
For the opportunity of living in a day when great aims are at stake
I want a task to do which has abiding value
Without which the lives of many would be poorer
And the good I might do be eternally lost
I want a sense of humor and the genius to laugh
The grace to forgive and the humility to be forgiven
The willingness to praise
And the freedom to enjoy a little leisure with tantalizing dreams
I want a glimpse of kneeling hillsides the unresting sea
The horizon and chanting plains
And the thrill of a few high tangled bird notes keenly thinned
I want a few wistful moments of quiet
Amid the garish noises and fevered fret of the day
And when twlight flecks the even tide with spotted shadows
A sense of the presence of God