Wow the year has almost ended
What a year it has been. 
So much to be thankful for 
so much to recall
each memory though some hard, are each a treasure

This year has been one of answered prayer
One of tears, yes many of them
But one great answered prayer
Among so many
God is truly amazing
God is good 
And I will sing and shout it

As this year ends
I thank my Lord
For every blessing may it be big or small
I thank God for each person in my life
And as the new year comes and my life is changed
As I walk through in to a brand new stage
I thank my Lord who has guided me thus far
And I thank Him for I know my future is in His hands 

Child labour is a huge issue in our country, as well as many others. It is the right of each child to have a childhood, to be able to play, to eat, to laugh, to talk and to live. This poem speaks of one child among the thousand who life as slaves. Child workers are cheep, they do not demand, they are too afraid to talk. But that gives no one the right to abuse or take away rights that are thiers from birth.

Have you employed a child this day? If you have, remember, you were a child once too. If you were in this situation what would you think, feel, what would you do? Do not rob a child of thier childhood, of thier innocence. Love them and care for them, they are not your slave, but just a smaller YOU.

There are many children who don’t have fathers or mothers. There will be many who spend this Christmas alone. Lets share this Christmas with these children. Let’s go atleast to one home or orphanage where there are needy children and share the joy of Christmas with them. Will you take this challenge. I hope you will. Last Tuesday, I along with some of our Sunday School Teachers had a Christmas party with around 20 girls from 2 orphanages. The children's ages ranged from around 7 - 16. This was truly a blessed time for all of us. We had a puppet show for the children. We played with them, sang songs with them. It was an awesome day. Some of these children have parents. But they cannot look after them, due to financial reasons and also at times because they just don’t want to. Then there are those who don’t have anyone as well. Sharing that day with the children has deeply impacted me and also 3 of my friends. (we are all teachers at our Sunday School and we teach little ones between the years of 2 1/2 - 3) We have decided to do this on a more frequent basis, to go and share time with these little ones. We have decided to take time may be once or twice a quarter to go to both the homes and spend time with them.

I hope this Christmas you would do the same. Share it with another. You can share it with children or even with the elderly, who don’t have any one, who are in homes. Whoever it may be, share it with someone.

God Bless you all.

We are called to forgive aren’t we? But how many of us actually forgive and forget about it? Don't we forgive, but still remember the wrong that was done against us? I think of times like the fictional story that I have written below, and I wonder how one would forgive if that happened to them. Would I forgive, if I was in that situation? I don’t know to be honest. I know I would ask for one thing. That is the strength to be able to not only forgive but also forget, completely and move on.

There is anger and hatred in the hearts of many

There is evil that is beyond human comprehension

Evil that brings us to our knees

But still love those who hurt or despise you

Love your neighbor

Isn’t that what we are taught

Even if our neighbor is evil

You know deep inside

There is a small hope for love

For kindness

We are not born with hatred in our hearts

Nor are we born with evil

There is love within those cold hearts

It is like finding warmth within a cruel cold winter

You will find it

There is warmth to be found

There is always warmth to be found

The Day has Ended

The day has ended
It has been another of sadness
More children join the streets
Beautiful girls sell themselves to earn just another slice of bread
Men drink away their earnings and their sorrows
Mothers give birth to more children with no hope of sustaining them

The day has ended
It has been another of loveless existence
Families break apart
Leaving children confused
Young couples go at it
Fists and words
Little ones look on
Their parents look on in disbelief
Poor stand neglected
Homeless sit on the street edge

The day has ended
It has been one of bloodshed
More shells
More homes
No more lives
Toys littler the ground where once a pre-school stood
Broken beds and saline tubes lay
Where once a hospital stood

I saw her tears
I saw the golden drops of the sun join the ocean
The ocean filled with human tears
She feels it
She knows it
But one day there will be no tears
There will be no more left
Will she appear to us then
What would she do
Will she still have one more golden tear drop left
To shed for this beautiful nation

All Out of Love

It is differences that bring us together isn’t it
Difference of opinion
Difference in trends of thought and view
If we were all the same
What a boring place that would be
Thank you, once again for your worlds.
Yes we are tied by acceptance
But more over I believe
By the love we share for one another
And the love we both share for one very special uncle and father

We haven’t exchanged many thoughts in the past have we
We, well I have drifted away
I am not that good in sharing what is in my heart
For I fear many things
Rejection is one
Pain is another
Yet as you can see
Penning them down is an easier way to express my thoughts
An easier way to pour my heart out

I have found release in the poems I write
For in each line, in each word is something I feel
Yet cannot say
Something I know lies within my
But I am not brave to say

Thank you for a castle to cling to
A castle not of sand but of stone

What is true in this land of ours?
Have you thought about this?
Is the peace that we claim to have, real?
Is the love we claim to have for our Muslim, Tamil and Sinhala brothers true?
Is the hand that reaches out to help, doing so with ulterior motives or not? Is the reign of terror over? Are the people of this nation free to talk, free to walk and free to think?
Are the screams for justice real or are they just a mask or a voice for the season?
Which of these are true?

Today I came across pictures of people whose lives have been affected by the war which ended a few months ago. Each of them are those who have lost something because of the war. What I saw, what I see is … beyond words. What I feel within me… is not easy to put to words.

I sit here writing this, as many of my brothers and sisters are living in tents,
surrounded at times by their own waste.
I write this as mothers beat their breasts for children who have died or gone missing.
I write this as fathers walk the breath of the camps looking for their daughters.
I write this as millions lay in unmarked graves.
I write this as thousands upon thousands have vanished from this island.

What is true in this island?
Is the development that has boomed going to bring good lives to us all?
Are the people in the north and the east going to have new lives again?
Are they going to get houses to live in?
Will the camps close down?
Will people return home?

I am alive and I am citizen of this nation. That is true.
I believe in equality. That is true.
I believe in standing up for those who are been trodden upon
and standing up for those who have been silenced. That is true.

There is an anger that is brewing within me right now
An anger that I cannot completely explain
But I know what fires it
I know what birthed it
Hatred
Sacrifice of the innocent
Genocide
By lies and deceit
By abuse and rape
By injustice and power hungry souls

There are many like me in this nation.
Many, who want to give to those who have lost all,
give to those who see no hope. That is true.
Many who have the eager in their hearts to serve this country
To bring this country in a life time of true, pure peace
There are people
There are voices
There are hands willing to work and feet willing to walk the talk,
I hope that is true