Meg's Poem

Yesterday in ward prayer, Meg shared this poem she had written with us.  I loved it and wanted to share it with anyone who wanted to read it.  She is an excellent writter. Enjoy!

The Greatest Gift

By Megan Wright

Far from home on Christmas Day

And not because I’ve lost my way

I travel here, on foreign shores

To spread a message door to door

A message of the reason why

God’s Holy Son was sent to die

A child, born in a lowly state

So humble, with such a tragic fate

He’d live a life so good and clean

That no common man could have forseen

That he’d invoke the wrath of kings

All weary of the truth he brings

And yet his death had been fortold

By every prophet, new and old

But men forgot, for when he came

All other babies born were slain

With hopes that he would be included

And his short reign on Earth, concluded

Forgotten, was the joy he brought

Though all their lives they had been taught

Yet he survived, to grow and teach

In temples he began to preach

Rejected again, but some began

To listen and to understand

The truths he spake were soft and clear

They showed that man need not fear

“Come drink,” he said, “And thirst no more.”

And so they did, and their spirits soared

“Come with me, and be fishers of men.”

And so a discipleship began

He walked Judea with Apostles twelve

Missionaries, not unlike myself

He taught them through example sweet

He blessed them, and he washed their feet

And with them he did heal the sick

With Priesthood power, not conjured trick

He caused the lame to walk and blind to see

He called back the dead and fed the hungry

His mission was not to conquer and rule

But to serve his God, to be His tool

To save the children, though not from Rome

But from their inability to return home

To be reunited with their God and King

And this was why he had to bring

His disciples to Gethsemane

He said, “Sit ye here and watch with me.”

But one by one, they fell asleep

And as he knelt, our Christ did weep

“Father, take from me this bitter cup

Or couldst thou somehow interrupt?

If this dark hour could only pass

If my great burden could be less vast

But I’ll always be thy faithful son

So, Abba, let thy will be done.”

And so the Atonement did begin

He felt every pain and every sin

His pores did bleed, from head to toe

Such suffering we might never know

Because he took our place that night

So that our burdens may be light

He saved us from an awful fate

From our inborn, “natural man” traits

He truly was our Savior then

But his suffering had not come to an end

For one of his disciples twelve

Betrayed Christ, for money for himself

The soldiers took our Lord away

And despite how many people prayed

That somehow he would be set free

He was sent to Calvary

He was esteemed as not, like common dross

Whipped, and told to carry his own cross

His physical strength was pushed to the brink

Until upon his knees he sank

The soldiers, angered by the pause

Chose another man to carry his cross

And so they led them to the hill

Where the Redeemer would be killed

Now, because he had bled from every pore

In that Garden, only hours before

He was filled with pain at the lightest touch

He felt every blow so very much

So when they nailed his hands and feet

His suffering was made complete

Yet as he hung above those men

He asked his Father to forgive them

“Forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

He meant both Roman and Hebrew

And after he’d given his utmost

Our God and Savior gave up the ghost

His faithful Apostles, all filled with gloom

Took his body to Joseph’s tomb

They laid him there, in linens white

And there he stayed, for two more nights

But on the morn of the third day

Mary went to where he’d been laid

She saw his body was no longer there

And her heart was filled with such despair

That when he came and asked her why

She had a reason to weep and cry

She did not recognize her Lord

And through her blinding tears implored

Where had he taken her lifeless God?

But then she saw him and she was filled with awe

“Go tell my disciples what thou hast seen,

that they too will know where I have been.”

And though Thomas doubted, they all saw

That Christ had satisfied the law

He had overcome the jaws of death

That we may breathe again after our last breath

And so even now, men laud his name

So grateful that to this Earth he came

And yet, on Christmas, some do forget

Why God’s own son, Mary did beget

Why he was born in Bethlehem

Why wisemen sought to bring gifts to him

And this is why I am abroad

At Christmastime, on foreign sod

To spread a message, the reason why

God’s Holy Son was sent to die

He died for us that we might live

The greatest gift anyone could ever give