I saw the signs; I read the news:
This year, a leader we will choose!
We’ll pick a man to make good rules,
To cut our taxes, boost our schools;
He’ll cut the budget or spend more –
Create new jobs and end the war.
He’ll stand for all that’s just and right,
And if he has to, he will fight
Against those evil men, and those
Who at our culture thumb their nose;
And when we’ve picked the perfect one,
This world we live in will be home.
But “Know ye not, my pilgrim-child,
This world you live for is defiled,
For when a man they had to choose,
They chose a robber set him loose;
And crucified their rightful King;
It isn’t just a bygone thing.”
The choice remains, is made today:
“With this man, Christ, we’ll do away!”
“My child, why fret who rules your land?
His heart, you know, is in My hand;
So seek those things which are above;
(This world, I see, has snatched your love);
And all you need, I’ll add to you
Of food and raiment, shelter too,
And with your treasure up above,
I’ll rightly have your hope and love.”
R. Short (2004)