Thursday, April 5, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving?


Thanksgiving? Hold on now – I fear you’ve made a dreadful mistake
Thanksgiving’s in November – don’t you remember?
And this is Spring for heaven’s sake
No, I’m perfectly aware of where I am and when it is
But frankly my friend it seems to me, yes it seems to be
Most appropo’ to crow a bit, to show a bit of genuine gratitude
A heaping helping of “I’m so overjoyed” attitude because if the story’s true
If he did what he said he’d do, if it’s not just a pipe dream wrapped in stain glass
If it really happened, if it truly came to pass –
That God grabbed Death by its big bad self
And kicked him squarely in the …
Well, let’s not be crass
Then it’s time for a party and plenty of reason to party hearty
It’s a day for thanksgiving, a day to be living with hope and not fear
The Son has risen, the darkness gives way to light
The bad guys don’t get to run the town forever
Sure they may put up a good fight
But guess Who gets the final word?
Assuring us that goodness will persevere
And why? Do I speak of “pie in the sky”?
Of some “sweet by and by” while we weep and we try
To merely survive – Am I just clinging to
A wonderful myth, not worth fooling with
Is it all just a lie?
Can’t answer for you or anyone else
I’m doin’ real well to try and speak for myself
Can’t prove my belief with a test tube or graph
I wasn’t’there on that day and there’s no photograph
Is it logic to buy this business of resurrection?
Let’s put it in under a microscope
For a much closer inspection
Then again, what’s the point,
Though it strikes us as more than odd
For someone dead to be made alive again
Couldn’t the Creator of the Universe perform
A bit of hocus pocus – if God is really God?
Sure I know, you have your questions, I surely have mine
We all have misgivings and for me, that’s just fine
But I guess when I’ve run it through my brain
When I get to the “bottom line”
I’m here to say I believe it happened — that the Son rose again
And for me, that’s more than enough to suggest we all can join in
Giving thanks for this crazy, hard to believe, way-out, wonderful
Life changing, mind bending, faith stretching, heart stopping day
When God pulled more than a rabbit out of a hat
He brought Jesus out of the tomb – put his arm around him
And then they both went off to celebrate Easter together
So now that, for all of us, it’s Easter forever — (Happy Thanksgiving)

George Gagliardi, Easter, 2007