The Christmas season has reached its peak, and now we are in its steady decline. People are easing back into work while preparing for another round of celebrations in the coming days. It is understandable, that’s how it has always been for many of us.
These days, especially now that I tend to have so much on my plate. I only attend church when I have programs. That is other than the usual Sunday masses, you will only see me in the church if I had something important to do there. Prior to this, I was always in church. The church was always a good place to hang around and relax with friends.
Why am I saying all this? I just remembered how back in the day, during seasons like this, including Easter and the like, foodstuffs are usually gathered and given to the poor and less privileged in our midst. When church members pool resources together, what will be gathered will be enough to make the Christmas of at least three dozen families memorable. Apart from food items, some things are also shared including clothes and toys for the children.
I am sure they still do it these days, although with the harsh economic situation hitting the country, it might not be as buoyant as it used to be.
Christmas is all about sharing. Many people might think it’s about buying gifts and giving them to your loved ones. But the truth is, most of the time, gifts are bought from excess funds. What we can actually share, not just with loved ones but with friends and others as well, goes way beyond monetary value.
For instance, we can share our time. We can choose to spend time with people we do not usually spend enough time with. This works especially for those whose time is always choked up with activities, this would be a great time to just let it all go for a few days and actually relax. Use that time to make someone’s life a little easier. It can be by lending a helping hand, or by giving a listening ear. What matters is that by the time you are done, you’ll be leaving the person feeling better than when you met them.
Another thing you can share is your talent. It can be a comedy, it can be singing or dancing. But during Christmas, there are usually avenues to showcase your skills and talent. All in the spirit of making everyone happy. By sharing this your gift, you not only get better at it, but you also get people to know that you are good at that particular thing.
Almost everyone I have spoken to this year seems to be on the same page concerning this year’s Christmas. They seem to all agree that it’s worse than the last one. Many people are spending Christmas alone, just by themselves, and being happy as long as they have food to eat and something to do to occupy their minds.
There are those that have everything taken care of for them. Everything for them concerning Christmas is carefully taken care of by their guardians.
And then, there are those who have nothing. This season is just bleak and they are just trying to get by. For such people, a little sharing would be nice. Although I believe what they will need the most will be more of food than talent or time. Different needs for different peeps.
It is not a good feeling at all to have nothing, especially seeing as we live in a world where everything has a price that seems to always be on the increase. You can’t afford to have nothing.
But then, reality kicks in, and boom, there are actually people who do not have anything. While others are looking forward to all the fun they will have during the season, they are only praying to see good food to eat and water to drink.
As they say in my dear country, this life no balance. The life you are desperately working hard to change and improve is what someone else is praying fervently to God to grant him or her.
So, my dear friends, I believe this season is a call for us to remember to be grateful. To be grateful for what we have, for what we don’t have, and for the ones that are to come. As long as we have the spirit of gratitude within us, it will be difficult for us not to work toward the kind of life we want and get it.
Life might not be balanced, but we can definitely get the kind of life we want.
Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below, I would love to know what you are thinking. Till we meet in the next post.