Looking at Christmas from a Different Perspective

Around this time of year, I usually reminisce about all the wonderful traditions my family shares at Christmastime, that no matter how things change, most things remain the same. But I know full well that things are not the same. The world around us has seemed to have lost civility, respect (for both people and the law), and even at times a sense of humanity. I have been trying to watch the news less but still, I know what’s going on and have to deal with an almost daily sense of outrage. Yet I believe that there is more good than bad for I have seen it firsthand.

Over the last year, I have been volunteering at a thrift shop that provides free clothing and personal care items for those in need who are referred by Catholic Charities. It is manned by a group of volunteers who work hard and give generously of their time, sometimes enduring comments from those who are less compassionate. These volunteers spend long hours unloading huge bags and boxes of donated items, laundering them, sorting everything out, providing translation services, and helping people to find just what they need. They have established and maintained a most welcoming space and they certainly show me the good in the world.

I usually just work the checkout desk, which is probably the least difficult job. I simply have to look over the bags before people leave since they are limited to one coat per person, offer them some leftover food from a local school, and provide them a bag of toiletries. Whatever I have given in time, though, I have received back tenfold. And every single time I have been there, I have had an experience that has made me emotional. It could be someone saying a grateful “God bless you” to me in their native language. It could be how beautiful and friendly the children are. It could be how one lady just the other day thanked me with tears in her own eyes. The gratitude and graciousness of these people are truly something to behold.

We have so much. My husband, the son of immigrants, works hard and we have a very comfortable life which I probably take for granted. In the last month or so, I’ve been shopping for gifts that my family does not necessarily need but rather to make sure that there’s enough under the tree on Christmas morning. I mean, does my husband really need another white Oxford shirt? Our family will have an actual feast on Christmas Eve and we have collectively baked enough cookies and struffoli to fill a bakery. But when I am volunteering, I can clearly see how little some families actually have.

Last Saturday, a lovely, elderly Nigerian lady inadvertently left with two coats, one of which was my own coat. It was not her fault; some other volunteers bundled the things she had selected and my coat got mixed up in the bundles. When I was ready to leave, I realized that my brand-new Lands’ End coat was missing. My first thoughts were: Oh my goodness, it’s freezing outside and I just got that coat and it’s so warm and fits great and I love it! Then I thought about how many people I had seen arrive in just a sweatshirt with no coat on their back during a particularly frigid December. They did not have a spare coat waiting for them at home. In fact, some of them did not even have a place they could call home.

Thanks to some quick thinking, the coordinator was able to contact the lady and a real-life pair of husband and wife angels drove to the other side of Brooklyn on a busy pre-Christmas weekend to retrieve my coat. They kindly delivered it to me the next morning. And that was another clear sign of the good that is all around us.

So when my family packs up the car tomorrow with all the goodies from our local Carroll Gardens shops—the antipasto from Caputo’s Fine Foods, the bread from Caputo Bakery, the Christmas cookies from Court Pastry, the clams and baccala from the fish market—and when we sit down for the Feast of the Seven Fishes, I’m going to try to remember those people who were happy to be offered some leftover food, a few chocolate kisses and candy canes. When we open our presents on Christmas morning, I am going to think about those same people who are so grateful for secondhand clothes and toys, and a bag of toiletries. And when I light a candle in front of the Holy Family in the nativity scene at Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen before Mass on Christmas Day, I am going to think about all those families that I have encountered over the last year. I am going to recognize their humanity, say a prayer for all of them, and make a little promise to do what I can to help make their lives easier.

In the languages of my friends at the thrift shop, I wish a Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Joyeaux Noel to you and yours, and all the best for a healthier, happier, kinder, and more peaceful New Year.