The mad fool

Once there was a mad fool
Who raised both his hands, and cried:
To love is to care for another more than yourself
To forgive another worse than yourself
To create something better than yourself.
Nobody listened.
Everyone agreed
The purpose of life is not to accumulate wealth
But the glory God!
The trouble with having
More than you need
Is how do you know when you have enough?
If there is magic in a doornail
Even dust in this world
Must be alive with joy somewhere!
If a child is rebuked
She weeps bitterly
Still, everybody knows
A punishment now is better than calamity later
Vaccination preferable to the disease!
The animate and the inanimate agree
Be glad for your suffering
In this world of opportunity
Where redemption still lies before us
In every peculiar anguish
A chance to help a friend
Who suffers more.