THE LORD'S SECOND MILE

January 1, 1999

It’s New Year's Day of Ninety-Nine,
And there is time to write a rhyme.
The earth is white with falling snow,
I can’t work out, so here I go:

The grain in bins, the hay in ricks,
The wood stacked straight in firewood sticks,
The pantry full of food we’ve canned,
It all makes New Year's simply grand!

The cows bunch up around their shed,
Waiting there until they’re fed,
The poultry sounds are not to beg,
But just to announce they’ve laid an egg.

Some would say that our life style
Is way behind; at least a mile!
We’re seldom seen down at the store,
But healthy food? Who has more?

The clothes we wear, we’ve worn a while;
They have to go that “second mile,”
But they are warm, and they look nice;
We tell ourselves that they’ll suffice.

Our car is old, but it is good;
It’ll last a while; or, I think it should.
We’re neither rich, nor look that way,
But give ear, 99, to what I say:

High dollar missiles don’t keep the peace;
Dollars we invest in the poor’s release,
To teach them to earn a better life style,
Will clothe us in the “Lord’s Second Mile”.

No nation rules the earth by force,
So God has portrayed another course:
Let’s deny ourselves and take up His Cross,
Before our pride turns us all into dross.

Of all God’s gifts, I’ve found not another
That thrills me like the love of a brother!
Let’s reach out as long as there’s life,
And by so reaching, decrease human strife!

When neighbors ask, “How goes 99?”
We don’t want to say, “The World is Mine,”
But “Heaven’s hosts behold with mirth,
And exclaim aloud, ‘PEACE ON EARTH’!”