This morning on the way to work I was listening to James Taylor at Christmas and was taken aback by the words to a song I have heard countless times but never really listened to. While song lyrics aren't often read as poetry (at least by the masses), these lyrics are indeed poetry in the truest sense:

Some children see Him lily white,

The baby Jesus born this night.

Some children see Him lily white, With tresses soft and fair.

Some children see Him bronzed and brown,

The Lord of heav’n to earth come down. Some children see Him bronzed and brown,

With dark and heavy hair.

Some children see Him almond-eyed,

This Savior whom we kneel beside.

Some children see Him almond-eyed, With skin of golden hue.

Some children see Him dark as they,

Sweet Mary’s Son to whom we pray.

Some children see him dark as they, And, oh . . . they love Him, too

The children in each different place

Will see the baby Jesus’ face

Like theirs, but bright with heavenly grace, And filled with holy light.

O lay aside each earthly thing

And with thy heart as offering,

Come worship now the infant King. ‘Tis love that’s born tonight!

As I read these words two thoughts come to mind. Negatively, we tend to make God in our own 'image and likeness' instead of remembering that we are made in his. Positively, though Christ took on humanity as an ethnic Jew some 2000 years ago, he is the God of all nations, tribes, tongues...and colors.