Christmas Thoughts

It’s just a couple of days till the sound of ripping paper and delighted giggles will fill the air around many of us. Some folks will celebrate quietly, no children will jump up and down with joy, and in simple peace they will praise God reflecting on their pleasant memories. Others will be alone, perhaps because they choose it to be so, but many because there is no other opportunity.

I am thinking of the woman whose husband has gone on to Heaven, and her children have abandoned her to the confines of an asylum (by any name). I am thinking of the young man in a prison cell, who, while perhaps surrounded by others, is truly alone. I am thinking of the child living in a cardboard box on a dirty street in some backward third World country, who will be hungry and cold and lonely.

My excitement for the season is always tempered by these thoughts. Maybe if I were more creative, I could discover ways to change all the things I don’t like. Eliminate the negatives, you know, so that everyone has a wonderful, exciting, dynamic Christmas.

Certainly I could visit that woman, if only I knew exactly where to find her. Of course, I wouldn’t have to look far — so maybe it is not a matter of ignorance, but of care. I know some guys in prison. Maybe I can’t go (thought I probably could), but I could at the very least see a note, a card, an allowed gift-putting a few dollars on their commissary account, if I am not too busy. I wonder if one of those shoeboxes we sent off might reach that child in the cardboard box. . .maybe I could’ve sent another one. . .or four.

I’ll build a fire in the fireplace on Christmas morning. I’ll watch the kids tear into the gifts, and my wife and I will remember how excitingly hectic it used to be with all the boys at home. If I try real hard I”ll be able to put some of the others things out of my mind for a while. But today, right now, I can’t seem to get past the fact that Christmas is not the same for all of us.