If it is not good news
for the single mothers
making Christmas magic
out of two jobs and no sleep...
If it is not good news
for migrants in the fields
picking avocados...
If it is not good news
for black teenagers
huddled together in hoodies
for gossip and other adolescent delights...
If it is not good news
for the young reluctant
bold terrified
Ukrainian soldier...
If it is not good news
in the tent city
beside the light-rail overpass
during a Minnesota blizzard...
If it is not good news
for the college student
going home to wear a dress at Christmas dinner
(and not a suit)
introducing themselves
all over again
(by a new name)
to ones who have loved them
(or who do not understand them)...
If it is not good news
for workaholics
buried under unfinished business
(and unfinished dreams and desires),
bound by anxiety...
If it is not good news
for the Christmas Eve preacher
grieving his parents' deaths...
If it is not good news
for the woman
making her New Year's resolution
to get sober (again and for real)...
If it is not good news
for the oncology floor nurses
and those in their care
who will not go home for Christmas
(or at all)...
If it is not good news
when night is longest
and questions are deepest
and nightmares are closest
and fears are starkest
and comfort is bleakest
and threats are loudest,
then it is not good news.
But let there be peace for the frightened soldier,
compassion for the welfare mother,
generosity for the unhoused neighbors,
companionship for the night shift workers,
legislation for the border crossers,
love for the addicts,
grace for the teenagers;
Let there be willingness to see tents and overcrowded apartments
and convenience stores and dollar stores
and community meals and food banks
and free clinics and women's clinics
as holy and human;
(and let there be deep dissatisfaction with
the way we mortgage our privilege at the cost
of those who have none);
Let there be grit and gratitude,
concern in our hearts
for neighbors, strangers,
creatures, the trees,
the stars, the prairies, the seas;
Let there be shameless sharing
of all we have to offer
reckless and openhearted love,
full-bodied hope in our hearts
that explodes into the world,
like a baby born at midnight,
or a blazing star,
or a flight of angels
in a frenzy on the night horizon,
belting out
gloria (to the heavens)
peace (to the earth)
joy (to the world)
good news (for all).