Amidst all the joys of the season, there was also a very sobering moment that still haunts me. It was Monday morning, the 20th, and I had stopped by the church office to drop off information on the hymns and special music titles for the two Christmas Eve services, Christmas Day, and the service of nine lessons and carols on the 26th. It was a huge amount of information to get together and to keep straight, and by the time I was finished, my head was reeling and I was feeling more than a little frustrated that the Christmas season is always so incredibly hectic for me.
And then as I prepared to say goodbye to Mary Ann and Sharon (the two secretaries at Holy Communion) I suddenly realized that right outside the door were maybe twenty people crowded into the entryway – and beyond them were at least twenty more people lined up on the outside steps. . . there waiting for our church’s food pantry to open about 15 minutes from then. There is always a sizable crowd of people on Monday, but this was perhaps the largest group they had ever seen show up so early. . . and I have no doubt that by the time the Food Pantry opened up its doors, the crowd of people was even larger.
I walked back to the pantry to find Sharon Wilcyznski and Dianne Johnson racing around to get ready for the crowds of people who would soon be there, hoping to walk away with an armload of food. . . and I immediately regretted that it had been awhile since Kathy and I had donated anything to the Food Pantry, and vowed then and there not to let this important ministry escape our attention again.
And just as important, I realized that if I hadn’t already been at Holy Communion for other reasons, I never would have crossed paths with the folks coming to the Food Pantry that day. It’s so easy for us to live out our busy lives without coming face to face with people living in poverty. . . and I for one really like that tidy isolation, which allows me to enjoy my own affluence without having to confront the pain of those who have to do without. But on this particular day, it’s as though God had other ideas.
And of course, all of this wiped out any inclination I had to complain about my hectic Christmas season. . . at least for a while. Suddenly, I was seeing my own blessings with much greater clarity and appreciating them with all my being. But what would God have us do about that? Surely, God intends for us to do more than bask in the warm fuzzy glow of gratitude for all we have been given. If our gratitude does not inspire us to live our lives differently, with real and authentic concern for those much less fortunate than we are, then that gratitude isn’t worth much, is it.
I have two resolutions for the coming year. . . that I get myself healthy and svelte again . . . and that I find some very tangible ways to live out these lyrics from a song I wrote a few years back. . .
Lord, help me always be
grateful for the blessings You have given me.
And Lord, help me thank you not in just the words I say,
but in how I live and give in each and every day.
I may have written that song (“Mercy and Love”) with the holiday of Thanksgiving in mind, but I’m starting to realize that this song says a lot about what Christmas is all about, as well.
pictured above: a small portion of the crowd gathered at Holy Communion to access our Food Pantry.