Caesar Est Kurios
By Al Staggs, Chaplain and Performing Artist
Alberquerque, NM

In this season of remembrance
Of Jesus who was born in Bethlehem
Sons and daughters of Rome
Are being sacrificed to Caesar
To give their lives and futures
For the purposes of the Empire
And to lay waste a land and a people
Already ravaged by poverty.
And all the while the citizens of Rome
Are participating in their annual orgy,
Their liturgy of lights
And their offering of lavish gifts
To bolster the economy of the Empire.
A graven, obscene service of sacrifice it is
Co-opting the meaning of the message of this Jesus
This Prince of Peace
To increase the wealth and power of the Empire
On the backs of those
Who now have no place in the inn
Who are themselves now running from Caesar.
The citizens of Rome are impressive
In their demonstration of homage
To the life of this Jesus
But the place of highest devotion
Has been supplanted by Caesar.
So in this year
In this our land of the Empire
Our gifts, our children and our allegiance to Jesus
Are being sacrificed on the altar of the state
Where Caesar, not Jesus, is Lord.

Updated Saturday, January 21, 2006