A Christmas prayer

By Michael L. McManus

On a frosty night, a long, long time ago, I was awakened and realized it was Christmas Eve. All the children should be tucked away and sleep peacefully. Many this night are imagining Santa visiting their house with toys they had asked him for.

I guess everybody has a Christmas wish of one kind or another. As I have gotten older now, I do not need toys, or new clothes, or cars. A few years ago, I started simply to say a Christmas Eve prayer to ask for different kinds of things.

This year, that prayer goes something like this

Bless the teachers in this world. You are the ones who hold up the bridges for learning. You often build those bridges, and carry their immense weight on your shoulders.

Bless the lovers. You are the ones who find peace in each other’s arms. You have received one of the ultimate gifts.

Bless the doctors and nurses, who, despite their creed, color or country, give all their lives for the same thing ― to heal the sick and infirm. You are often lonely. Even you sometimes have no answers. You come from a higher spiritual world than most of us know.

Bless the soldiers who each day face danger and protect society from war and violence. We lose too many of you in all this. In many cases, you kept us alive, only to give your life in service

Bless all the dictators of this world who cannot see reality except the one they create. These people need much more than any of us can ever provide. They rely on false gods. Their hearts are wrinkled with hate, and their souls are on the one-way road to oblivion. Unless the dictators change. Help for that change comes from a source far stronger than anything they or we have known.

Bless the lost children of this world. Those abandoned those with no food or family. Many do survive with a strength most of us will never know. They will help others of the same kind, never sharing their own pain.

Bless the lonely elders of this world. They are seen by some as society’s castaways. They have no children to take care of their illnesses. Their wrinkled faces tell of their loneliness. People strong in heart and mind often step in to help. The help is real, and is given by strangers.

Bless the firemen and peacekeepers. They place their lives, often young and vibrant, between ultimate danger and us. Sometimes we may not even know it, but they are there. It becomes tragic when we lose them. They shall never know fear.

Bless the pilots of the world. They are the carriers. They drive us, high and low, through wind and gale to our destination. People at many of these destinations are waiting for family reunions, weddings and happy times. Some are waiting for the opposite, and the pilots know that, too.

And, certainly not last, but maybe the people who need help the most. Bless the impossible cases. We can never know the circumstances, but they seem to be impossible to cure. When they are saved, even atheists cannot explain. Souls lost at sea, those with terminal disease, parents who lose a child. They are left with unimaginable mystery. Some seem to make it through. Some will not.

Santa cannot save them all, though surely he would like to.

So for my Christmas wish and the best present of all is that all for this one day are not lost. These are special people who have chosen to be in harm’s way to heal, save and carry others. They are the greatest gift. That there might be, on these special and sacred days, peace and warmth in all hearts.

Amen

Merry Christmas!

Michael L. McManus writes twice monthly for The Korea Times. He is a visiting professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Sookmyung Women’s University, and Gachon University. He may be reached at mcmismism@aol.com.