If he should come

(Reflections at Christmas)

If Jesus should tramp the streets tonight,

Storm-beaten and hungry for bread,

Seeking a room and a candle light

And a clean, though humble bed,

Who would welcome the Workman in,

Though he came with panting breath,

His hands all bruised and his garments thin,

This Workman from Nazareth?

Would the rich folk hurry to bind his bruise

And shelter his stricken form?

Would they take God in with his muddy shoes

Out of the pitiless storm?

Are they too busy wreathing their flowers

Or heaping their golden store ---

Too busy chasing the bubble hours

For the poor man's God at the door?

And if he should come where churchmen bow,

Forgetting the greater sin,

Would he pause with a light on his wounded brow,

Would he turn and enter in?

And what would he think of their creeds so dim,

Or their weak, uplifted hands,

Of their selfish prayers going up to him

Out of a thousand lands?

--- Edwin Markham

From Father's Scrapbook