Sense is not the sense of celebrations.
Each holiday is founded on a myth.
And though it might be good for good relations,
Some would stamp it fantasy forthwith.
Oil for one day never lasted eight,
Nor did a virgin once give birth to God.
Stories store beliefs long out of date,
Gifts of faith that there's no need to prod.
Rejoice, then, in a sensibility
Embracing both the fable and the fact,
Each, in fact, an equal mystery,
Though one's a working truth and one's an act.
If one can find a way to look both ways,
No nagging doubt need dim the holidays.
Giving voice to what by right is wrong,
Sing of the truth in the beauty of the song.
Copyright by Nicholas Gordon. Free for personal or non-commercial use.
Video and Audio Music: Gymnopedie No. 1. By Erik Satie. Music free to use at YouTube.