Month: December 2021

A Christmas Poem – A Christmas Poem

www.ellenbailey.com/poems/ellen_080.htm

A Christmas Poem

by Helen Steiner Rice

 

I have a list of folks I know,
all written in a book
And every year when Christmas comes,
I go and take a look,

And that is when I realize
that these names are a part
Not of the book they are written in,
but really from my heart

For each name stands for someone
who has crossed my path sometime,
And in the meeting they’ve become
the rhythm in each rhyme

And while it sounds fantastic
for me to make this claim,
I really feel that I’m composed
of each remembered name

And while you may not be aware
of any special link
Just meeting you has changed my life
a lot more than you think

For once I’ve met somebody,
the years cannot erase
The memory of a pleasant word
or of a friendly face

So never think my Christmas cards
are just a mere routine
Of names upon a Christmas list,
forgotten in between,

For when I send a Christmas card
that is addressed to you,
It is because you’re on the list
that I’m indebted to

For I am but a total
of the many folks I’ve met,
And you happen to be one of those
I prefer not to forget

And whether I have known you
for many years or few,
In some ways you have a part
in shaping things I do

And every year when Christmas comes,
I realize anew,
The best gifts life can offer
is meeting folks like you.

And may the spirit of Christmas
that forever endures
Leave its richest blessings
in the hearts of you and yours.

NYTimes: I Have a Handle on History. The Future Is a Different Story.

I Have a Handle on History. The Future Is a Different Story. nyti.ms/3GDvowO

“Recently, on Twitter, the political scientist Lee Drutman issued a challenge to his followers and readers.

“I’m all for envisioning doomsday scenarios so we can better prepare to avoid them,” he wrote. “But I’d also like to read more scenarios about how American democracy improves, and really specific scenarios, not the hand-wave-y stuff about how Americans put aside their differences.”

Since I am also inclined to think about doomsday scenarios for American democracy, I thought this was a useful exercise. Unfortunately, I came up empty-handed. I have many ideas for how we might improve democracy in the United States, but it is genuinely difficult for me to envision the path from A to B, from the status quo — with its entrenched interests and strong bias against change — to something more equal and inclusive.

With that said, in thinking through Drutman’s question, I reminded myself of a truism that’s worth repeating here: For as much as we might predict and project, the future is, and always will be, an undiscovered country.”

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone