Christmas 2000

The light was just a flicker
in a manger in a barn,
like a firefly on a June night:
now you see it, now it's gone.

At first it grew so slowly,
an immeasurable amount.
It seemed, despite its goodness,
that the light would soon go out.

Angels sang a ghostly chorus,
wise men came that holy night,
lowly shepherds peered in wonder,
then stayed to fan the light.

Holy God in all His mercy
saw the world in sin and lost,
raised His hand, the light protected,
said, "My Son will pay the cost."

The the light burned stronger, brighter,
like a sunrise on the sea.
Its brilliance did not falter
when He died on Calvery's tree.

Now, the temple veil is broken.
Now, the road to Heaven paved.
Simple Man's no longer helpless.
Simple Man might now be saved.

Out in a foreign bushland
or in a swampy quay
sinners grope through total darkness
without knowing another way.

Will you stir yourself to help Him?
Will you take the torch to them?
It's the light of man's salvation
that began in Bethlehem. 

~ Jim Parker, written January 2000

Norma sent this poem out with the following note:  "Dear family and friends, Just before Jim's death, he wrote this Christmas poem for our holiday greeting for the year 2000.  We hope you will have a blessed Christmas."

Tennessee

If God had not made Tennessee
I would have thought it up;
A place to fish for carp and perch
Around the cypress stumps.

Where cotton blooms in summer
And the wild flowers hug the roads,
Where worldly problems all cast off
And pressure packs unload.

If God had not made Tennessee
I think I'd go and rob
Some other country's round top hill
And call it Pilot's Knob.

I'd set it by a river
Where from the top I'd see
Land and water far beyond;
The place that nurtured me.

If God had not made Tennessee
I would, for Heaven's sake!
Like when they dammed the river
and made Kentucky Lake.

Then I'd send a note to Peter
And maybe one to Paul
With a glowing report on the fishing sport
Saying, "Come on down, y'all!"

If God had not made Tennessee
I'd have done it by myself,
Made deer, raccoon and 'possum
And other game of stealth.

Made  a mocking bird to fool us
When he sings some other's tune
And a whip-or-will to sooth us
In evening's purple gloom.

If God had not made Tennessee
Where would I have been a lad?
Strolling down a summer's lane
With Mama and with Dad?

With straw hat down 'gainst the evening sun
And bare toes dragging sand
A happy boy, the world my toy,
In a Hallelujah land.

If God had not made Tennessee
With guitar, bass and horn,
Where a sound called country music
Was conceived and then was born.

Where fiddle, bow and banjo
Keep tune with patting feet
And loud applause enhance the cause
And never a stranger meet.

If God had not made Tennessee
Just think what we'd have missed.
No Smoky Mountains high and tall,
No skies with tree tops kissed.

No dreamy, bubbly mountain streams
Flowing down to bottom sand,
No place to say, when friends drop by,
"This is the Promised Land."

~ James Parker, June 1998.