December

It is that month when all should be merry & bright and I do have all that I need. But so many don't and it feels overwhelming as I cry over the news reports coming from Mumbai and Zimbabwe. I heard a commentator say that many in this country wonder if they have a reason to celebrate due to the receding economy and it broke my heart to think that we in America, the richest and most blessed nation in the world, could not find reasons to celebrate the very thing that this country was founded for and on. If I lose my job, I can go to the unemployment office and even tho I may not be able to buy the latest gadget to put under the Christmas tree the water will still probably run out of my faucet and clean water at that. If I can't find another job, there are a myriad of agencies I can apply to for help. If I or anyone I love is attacked by a devastating illness we have access to the best medical care albeit if we don't have insurance it will not be a pleasant experience and it could devastate us financially which sends me back to the agencies that are willing to help me survive. I have eaten my share of welfare cheese and drunk the powdered milk and shopped at the Goodwill when it wasn't in fashion but I have never lived on the streets and so am not an authority. I do have a job and health insurance although my grown children do not and it worries me until I remember where their security comes from. I am going home to my warm, modest home tonite and putting the wreath on my front door and the stockings on the mantle and some cute snowmen in the nooks and crannies. I will send pretty Christmas cards and bake delicious sugar cookies and watch all of the old Christmas movies and count myself one of the most blessed and richest people in the world. And how will I share my blessings and my wealth? Donating time and money, praying for those beyond my reach and praying for us all to share our resources. We all have something to give. A newsperson told Mother Teresa that all of her work in Kolkata was but a drop in an ocean of pain and sickness and she replied "yes, that is true but the ocean is made of drops" and I think if we all just address one drop it would make a tremendous difference. What does your drop look like and what will you do? Merry Christmas.