Christmas musings

December 7, 2007
Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. I love the decorations, the snow, the lights, the time with family and friends. I love the music, the snow, the religious influence and service in the Cathedral. It gives me joy to pick out gifts and the way they make people feel really loved and appreciated. I like watching the small kindnesses that people do for each other during this time of year. It's so wonderful watching the way people just get a little nicer, and a little more patient this time of year (as long as you avoid the sales and the stores). Christmas just makes me feel like a happier, better person. What a joyful time of year.

This Christmas feels a little different, though. At the back of my mind (as it has been since I got back) are my experiences in Benin. I am realizing that the way we are at Christmas is what the people I met in Benin are like all year round. Maybe that's one of the reasons I liked it so much. They don't wait till Christmas to be kind and considerate to each other, it is a part of their way of life. It makes me wonder why we only do it at certain periods of time. Why aren't we kind always? Why don't we allow ourselves to be a little more patient with others? Why don't we do little things all year long to show how much we appreciate our loved ones?

One of the things that amazed me in Benin was the community living. Everywhere we travelled, life was lived outside. People sat in front of buildings and visited. Shop keepers waited outside and talked with people instead of hiding behind a desk. A group of men set up a chessboard in the middle of the sidewalk to play. Life everywhere was transparent and lived in plain view of neighbors, family and friends. People in Benin take time to talk, laugh, and enjoy. Shopping is not a sprint, it's a marathon with nothing is done quickly. Saying good morning was the expectation not the oddity. There is not a lot of crime in Benin, and this seems to be why. It just isn't worth it when the price is to be excommunicated from the community. I'm not saying that there aren't problems and arguments and prejudices there, I'm just saying that they seem fewer because the majority seem to make others feel like they matter. We could stand to learn a few lessons here!

I am reminded of that today at my school, Freeman. We are ending the second of the three weeks we call Freeman's 15 days of giving. For three weeks the Freeman community focuses on giving to others during the holiday season. The focus of week one was toys and gifts, this week is food, and next week is clothing. Now, I work with high schooler, teenagers who tend to be pretty self-involved on a daily basis, caught up in the dramas that are a part of high school life, so weeks like these, when they step out of themselves for a while are really special for me. Over the last two weeks, I've felt blessed to teach at a school where students are so willing to give! For instance, this week, our student body brought in over 1,450 food items to be donated to the local food bank, including a good 30 turkeys. I am amazed by their participation this week. They aren't getting anything out of it really, except the knowledge that they are helping someone else have a meal.

These small things tell me that we too can be a community that cares about the people around us.

We could learn to live in community year round