Christmas 2019: A Carol for Children

It is has been the tradition of RINOcracy.com to publish at Christmas the 1935 poem by Ogden Nash, “A Carol for Children.” The poem is a solemn one and I cannot help expressing the hope that one day it may be possible to post an exuberant message of undiluted joy. This year again, however, exuberance and joy, must seek to find their place in a time of uncertainty, conflict and humanitarian crises. Our own political divisions seem more bitter than ever, even prompting the media to offer columns of advice on how navigate around difficult conversations with friends and family at holiday gatherings. Surely one key to successful navigation is to keep foremost in our minds that the Christmas message is, after all, one of peace and reconciliation. The sharper our disagreements, the more urgent the imperative for us to find unifying goals and values. An America at peace with itself can have a far more eloquent voice for peace around the world.

Though Nash’s poem is somber, it holds out the hope for sweeter Christmases in years to come. We cannot lose sight of that hope and the need to do what we can today and tomorrow to bring it closer to reality.

A Carol for Children

God rest you, merry Innocents,
Let nothing you dismay,
Let nothing wound an eager heart
Upon this Christmas Day.

Yours be the genial holly wreaths,
The stockings and the tree;
An aged world to you bequeaths
Its own forgotten glee.

Soon, soon enough come crueler gifts,
The anger and the tears;
Between you now there sparsely drifts
A handful yet of years.

Oh dimly, dimly glows the star
Through the electric throng;
The bidding in temple and bazaar
Drowns out the silver song.

The ancient altar smokes afresh,
The ancient idols stir;
Faint in the reek of burning flesh
Sink frankincense and myrrh.

Gaspar, Balthasar, Melchior!
Where are your offerings now?
What greetings to the Prince of War,
His darkly branded brow?

Two ultimate laws alone we know,
The ledger and the sword –
So far away, so long ago,
We lost the infant Lord.

Only the children clasp his hand;
His voice speaks low to them,
And still for them the shining band
Wings over Bethlehem.

God rest you, merry Innocents,
While innocence endures.
A sweeter Christmas than we to ours
May you bequeath to yours.

* * * *

Christmas is a unique day for Christians, bringing not only special joy but special responsibilities. Nevertheless, the values Christmas proclaims—peace, love and reconciliation—are not the exclusive province of one religion or indeed of all religions. Thus, one hopes that believers and non-believers alike might embrace the Christmas spirit and celebrate the occasion in a way that is meaningful to each. In that spirit, I hasten to wish all a Merry Christmas.