Boxing Day

 

 

The rich have had their day

Today is for the poor,

Boxing Day is not about boxing-

Need I say more?

 

It was a day for servants

That worked all day Christmas,

These were in the employ

Of the rich and the famous.

 

Boxing Day could be said

To be poor people’s Christmas

Since on this particular day

They could have their fuss.

 

Gifts collected were boxed

And distributed to the poor

And these could enjoy themselves

Away from their usual chores.

 

So, today as you can see

Is really Christmas Day for me,

I should get my chance to celebrate

And have a Christmas spree.

 

Numbered among the poor

I eagerly anticipate my box,

You had your Christmas yesterday

But today I am taking the lot.

 

 

Cast off toys for the children

And a portion of your leftovers,

It would be really good, if you please,

To put in that ham shoulder.

 

That one from Christmas day

That was barely touched,

For my small household of eleven,

That’s not asking too much.

 

I will be back tomorrow

To do anything that you ask

But today that we call Boxing Day,

I’ll be away from such tasks.

 

Boxing Day was Christmas

But not for the rich and famous,

It was more for the lower classes

So they too could have a fuss.

 

 

Not so that first Christmas!

Those shepherds left their sheep

And they journeyed to Bethlehem

Where they found Jesus asleep.

 

The rich had no such privilege,

Theirs was two years later

Compared to the lowly shepherds

That saw him in a manger.

 

On that first Christmas morn

No, not on the Boxing Day,

The shepherds before the magi

Found Jesus who is the way.

 

 

That gift so crudely packaged

And distributed to the world

Was none other than the Saviour:

The eternal Living Word.

 

 

For he that was dead

Is alive and lives forevermore

And makes no distinction ever since

Between the rich and the poor.

 

For any that will come to him

Must first believe that he exists,

Just come to him in childlike trust

And in his cause enlist.

 

Then go and tell the world

Be it Christmas Day or Boxing Day,

Jesus is the reason for the season,

He is the only way!

 

Stewart Russell © December 26, 2023