Has The Fire Gone Out?

I found this as I was reading online. It fits in perfect with the reflective weeks I've been going through. It seems as timeless as when it was written in the sixties. Of course, it is an age old problem, which just becomes more pronounced during times of struggle. The cycle will likely repeat throughout all of time, because history always does, and we are all imperfect.

The Cold Within.

Six humans trapped by happenstance

In dark and bitter cold

Each possessed a stick of wood—

Or so the story’s told

Their dying fire in need of logs

But the first one held hers back

For of the faces around the fire

She noticed one was black

The next one looked across the way

Saw one not of his church

And could not bring himself to give

The fire his stick of birch

The third one sat in tattered clothes

He gave his coat a hitch

Why should his log be put to use

To warm the idle rich

The rich man just sat back and thought

Of wealth he had in store

And keeping all that he had earned

From the lazy shiftless poor

The black mans face bespoke revenge

As the fire passed from sight

For he saw in his stick of wood,

A chance to spite the white

And the last man of this forlorn group

Did naught except for gain

Giving just to those who gave

Was how he played the game

Their sticks held tight in deaths still hands

Was proof enough of sin

They did not die from cold without—

They died from cold within

-James Patrick Kinney

In researching the author, it appears he was an "author unknown," but his wife corrected that information with this letter to Abigail Van Buren:

DEAR ABBY: My husband, James Patrick Kinney, wrote the poem "The Cold Within" in the 1960s. It is gratifying to know he left something behind that others appreciate. He submitted it to the Saturday Evening Post; however, it was rejected as "toocontroversial for the times." Jim was active in the ecumenical movement. His poem was sent in to the Liguorian, a Catholic magazine. That was its first official publication to my knowledge. Since then, it has appeared in church bulletins, teaching seminars and on talk radio, listed as "Author Unknown." If that was done for legal protection, I understand. My family is always happy to see it appear, but we do think the true author should be given credit.

There's much to chew on in this piece, The Cold Within. Each person is responsible for their own level of helping to keep the fire going. Will your heart melt the bitter cold?