Have you ever noticed that just before Christmas, otherwise unfriendly people become friendly? It seems that something happens to people at this time of year. Suddenly people start to think about their neighbors who may not have as much as they do. They all of a sudden become aware of the folks on welfare, or the shut-ins, or the unfortunate people in the hospitals. Folks want to get on the bandwagon of collecting toys and gifts and food items to share with the poor. Maybe it makes them feel good. But why does it have to stop after Christmas?
I remember when I was growing up, Christmas was a special time for sharing. We were a large family and didn't have very much. However, on Christmas day there would always be toys for us, sent by aunts and uncles. The gifts we got from our parents were usually clothes made by the loving hands of our mother. We loved those homemade clothes, and always looked forward to Mom's wonderful creations. But one thing I remember most about our Christmases was the lesson our parents taught us: to share.
After breakfast on Christmas day Dad would read to us the Christmas story. A cardboard box was placed in the middle of the floor, and then very systematically we would open our presents. After all our gifts were opened Dad instructed us to look at each one carefully. He would proceed to tell us about a family he had met, (he did mission work in northern Alberta, Canada) a few miles down the road.
"Those boys and girls will not be getting any presents," he would tell us. "Their daddy is out of work. Wouldn't you like to share with them? Each of you pick one gift to share."
It was a hard decision to make, but each of us, in order of age, would place a chosen gift in that box in the middle of the floor. Mom would add her contribution of food from our scanty larder.
It didn't matter if there were three feet of snow, or if a blizzard was blowing, Dad would put on his heavy sox, and his rubber boots, throw on his coat, and trudge down the road to deliver the Christmas box to the needy neighbor. Dad's philosophy was, "There is always someone worse off than ourselves."
But his sharing never stopped at Christmas. It went on year-round.
The HAVES and the HAVE-NOTS
It happens just a month before Christmas:
"A festive spirit" begins to unfold.
At the stores and the malls you can feel it:
Lights and glitter, a sight to behold.
In the churches and schools there's a frenzy
to collect toys and clothes, new and old.
The "HAVES" want to share with the "HAVE-NOTS,"
gifts and food, but rarely their gold.
Christmas week, and right through to New Year's,
love and friendship waft gently on air.
Clubs and schools fill up boxes with goodies
to show all the "HAVE-NOTS" they care.
At the churches they serve Christmas dinners,
inviting the "HAVE-NOTS" to share.
Oh the "HAVES" are so generous at Christmas.
For the "HAVE-NOTS" they even offer a prayer.
But just wait til a month after Christmas,
toys, tinsels and trees all forgot.
Where then, is the pre-Christmas spirit?
Have the "HAVES" now forgot the "HAVE-NOTS"?
NOTE: the "HAVES" carry on with their living,
hardly thinking of all they have got,
while the "HAVE-NOTS" go on just existing,
getting by without what they have not.
© Helen Dowd.
See also:
No Room For The Christ of Christmas