The tree glows amber on Christmas Eve
As children in comfort wallow.

The cocoa soothes as it chases down
A coldness that’s hard to swallow.

For the treetop star has ever shone
In a world that’s eerily dark.

The haggard church shines amber and bold
In a land diseased and stark.

It’s done, the king has purchased the earth
But in shadows still men plot wars.

Why do you wait, oh patient Christ,
To reform the world that’s yours?

Yet the waft of spruce sheds peace abroad
And keeps us in the fight.

Brother, sister, hold strong to your light
For the glow will expel the night.

© Tanner Rinke 2015