Its time to share – the season is coming…

It is the unmistakable feeling of the season – Christmas bells are ringing, sweet sounding carols fill the air. Green and red Christmas lights twinkle as the trees go up. It is the season of celebration but it is also the season to remember those who have little or nothing. We often forget that our Saviour was born in a manger with straw to lay His head on. When celebrations start and good food and presents flow, it is hard to think of the less fortunate.

But that is not the way to celebrate Christmas. It’s hard not to get caught up in the revel – for people of all religions, December means a time to celebrate indeed. It’s difficult to get away from the shopping, the festivities, the merry-making and the endless celebrations that go on until January, but it would be good if we could spend at least a few minutes for those who have little or nothing.

Something special

Often they are the people we pass them by. Not always those in a destitute home but those whom we see every day. The poor cobbler who mends shoes all around, huddled under his weather-beaten umbrella. The office assistant who wonders how he could scrape together something to keep the kids happy with Christmas shopping. The maid who would like something special for Christmas. And the list goes on.

The season is for giving and sharing the Goodwill. It is celebrated best by giving – not just presents and money but our time and effort too. How many of us would find the time to go to a home for the aged this Christmas, to sing carols with the in-mates, share some cheer? How many of us would volunteer to go to the children’s hospitals or the cancer hospital to cheer up the patients there on Christmas Day?

It is in giving that Christmas is best celebrated. In giving that the significance of the blessed day is brought out. Even if it is not always possible to engage in big charitable projects, we could always do something for those in need closest to us. We could reach out and do something nice this season that would make us and them happy.

Seasonal cheer

There are so many in need as the world around them celebrates Christmas. As the seasonal cheer sets in and the shops and the radio stations play endless carols and seasonal favourites, there are children wishing they could have something small, something not very significant in the world’s eyes, but something that is very very dear to them, for Christmas. There are parents who work until the last minute to scrape the barrel to find that something extra to buy a Christmas tree for the children waiting eagerly at home. Most of them cannot ask out loud – the wishes stay deep in their hearts.

But they love the season and all its splendour just as we do. They too feel the seasonal spirit in the air and want to celebrate. There are places where we could take a little bit of Christmas cheer to – prisons, hospitals, homes for the needy, the poor. The star of Christmas shines on the people in these places as much as it shone on Baby Jesus in His manger.

Goodies on sale

Making someone in need happy this Christmas would be the best gift we could give ourselves. Giving does not have to involve big things. It could be small but a big gesture. Treating a lonely old widow to a Christmas meal. Giving a little but meaningful gift to someone who desperately wanted one. People have emotional needs not just material needs; they want to be remembered, thought of and recognized. The seasonal is especially difficult for the aged who are left forgotten by loved ones – they cherish the times when they spent Christmas as a family. We could always find an old aunt or a relative to give a gift of our attention, this year.

This season, let us do something different. Let us choose to reach out to someone in need. Find the will and the time to go out of the way to do something special for those who will not have it so good. They can only watch the merry making and wish. They see the shops lit up, the goodies on sale but they can only wish. They see the cakes, the sumptuous Christmas specials but they can only wish.

Let’s make one wish come true for them this season.