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On Christmas
Eve, a young boy with light in his eyes
Looked deep into Santa’s, to Santa’s
surprise
And said as he sat on Santa’s broad knee,
"I want your secret.
Tell it to me."
He
leaned up and whispered in Santa’s good ear
"How do you do it, year after
year?
I want to know how, as you travel about,
Giving gifts here and there, you never run out.
How
is it, dear Santa, that in your pack of toys
You have plenty for all of the
world’s girls and boys?
Stays so full, never empties, as you make your
way
From rooftop to rooftop, to homes large and small,
From nation to
nation, reaching them all?"
And
Santa smiled kindly and said to the boy,
"Don’t ask me hard questions. Don’t
you want a toy?"
But the child shook his head, and Santa could see
That he
needed the answer. "Now listen to me,"
He
told that small boy with the light in his eyes,
"My secret will make you
sadder and wise.
The truth is that my sack is magic inside
It holds
millions of toys for my Christmas Eve ride.
But
although I do visit each girl and each boy
I don’t always leave them a gaily
wrapped toy.
Some homes are hungry, some homes are sad,
Some homes are
desperate, some homes are bad.
Some
homes are broken, and the children there grieve.
Those homes I visit, but
what should I leave?
My sleigh is filled with the happiest stuff,
But for
homes where despair lives toys aren’t enough.
So
I tiptoe in, kiss each girl and boy,
And I pray with them that they’ll be
given the joy
Of the spirit of Christmas, the spirit that lives
In the
heart of the dear child who gets not, but gives.
If
only God hears me and answers my prayer,
When I visit next year, what I will
find there
Are homes filled with peace, and with giving, and love
And boys
and girls gifted with light from above.
It’s
a very hard task, my smart little brother,
To give toys to some, and to give
prayers to others.
But the prayers are the best gifts, the best gifts
indeed,
For God has a way of meeting each person’s need.
That’s
part of the answer. The rest, my dear youth,
Is that my sack is magic. And
that is the truth.
In my sack I carry on Christmas Eve day
More love than
a Santa could ever give away.
The
sack never empties of love, or of joys
`Cause inside it are prayers, and
hope. Not just toys.
The more that I give, the fuller it seems,
Because
giving is my way of fulfilling dreams.
And
do you know something? You’ve got a sack, too.
It’s as magic as mine, and
it’s inside of you.
It never gets empty, it’s full from the start.
It’s
the center of light, and love. It’s
your heart.
And
if on this Christmas you want to help me,
Don’t be so concerned with the
gifts `neath your tree.
Open that sack called your heart, and shareYour joy, your friendship, your wealth, your
care."
The
light in the small boy’s eyes was glowing.
"Thanks for your secret. I’ve got
to be going."
"Wait, little boy," said Santa, "don’t go.
Will you share?
Will you help? Will you use what you know?"
And just for
a moment the small boy stood still,
Touched his heart with his small hand and
whispered, "I will."
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