“Christmas is the day that holds all time together.” - Alexander Smith
I have had a Northern Hemisphere White Christmas. The decorations in and on their houses brightened the winter, and their houses smelt of pine resin and snow as they gathered around Christmas tables laden with hot roast meatsand all the trimmings.
I have shared my Christmas dinner among several hundred wonderful people at the City Mission Christmas dinners, celebrating the beauty of people. The number of mobility scooters there tripled in the seven years I was in charge of the Christmas dinner. Many of the people who came were outcasts in our community, and struggled to manage their lives, budgets, and relationships. Many were single-parent families with children who would not have otherwise had this celebration. Some were lonely older people, just wanting to feel the sense of family again.
Always working alongside a committed group of volunteers and funded by the generous donations from businesses and families, those dinners were amazing. The volunteers all collapsed like me after the cleaning-up was done, and then we took meals out to those people who could not come to the dinner or who preferred the safety of their own homes. My Angels remind me that Christmas is truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most.
Covid has changed many things, some for the better and some for the worse. Yet Christmas is just a few days away, and we will soon celebrate the passing of December 25, 2022. We might not celebrate the birth in a stable of a little boy, and we are not particularly into chubby men in red suits - mind you, we all might be chubbier if we only worked one day a year and had elves to do all the other stuff.
So, my friends, my Angels and I want you to remember that the greatest gift you can ever own is not found in a shop, or under a Christmas tree. It is found in the hearts of loving family and friends.
