Wounded World

By Madelaine Wong

Dear Santa,

Please bring me the best present, ever. There’s something that I really need. It can be found everywhere, but sometimes, it’s hard to find. If you find it, I will be rich. Without it, I will die. When you look for it, bypass the candy aisle of the department store and the electronics department. I don’t want an iPod or a laptop. In fact, don’t bother with the malls at all.

You can’t buy the thing that I need. It is infinitely valuable, but also free. To find it, you’ll have to look inside the heart of every human being.

Alright, that’s enough beating around the bush. At the risk of sounding overly sentimental and not at all clever, this Christmas I wish for love.  Love is vital to my existence. It is what causes me to exist. You must understand that I am desperate for love. I am deprived and suffering, Santa. I am wounded and broken. Only one thing can heal me. So, you must give love in abundance. Don’t hold back.

You can’t carry love in a sack or in a box. Love is immensely large and yet takes no space at all. I will tell you how you can deliver this valuable gift to me. Give me your time. Time is your most precious commodity, for you don’t know how much you have. Offer me understanding and forgiveness. Be patient with me. Pick me up when I fall. When I’m hungry, feed me. When I’m thirsty, give me something to drink. Give me clothes and a place to live. Visit me when I’m sick and when I die, see to it that I’m buried. That is how you can draw more love into the world.

This holiday of Christmas began with a gift. That small baby born in Bethlehem received gold, frankincense and myrrh; gifts fit for a king, a God and a man. Give to me what I need. Love; it’s the best present. When you give me love, you share in the gift that that child brought to the world.

Love is the only thing that will stop me from hurting myself and the only thing that will bring me peace. So, bring me love and lots of it.

 

Sincerely,

The Human Race

 

By Madelaine Wong