For Kathleen

Today is December 23rd and as I walked to my office from the parking garage,  I was thinking of what else I needed to do, presents to buy and wrap, groceries for Christmas dinner, what to wear to the Christmas Eve Services when I suddenly I thought of my friend Kathleen.  I came to a dead stop on the sidewalk, nearly getting run over by the people walking behind me.  I realized it was just 3 weeks since I had returned from Haiti and Kathleen was still there until December 28th.  

When I flew home, at first it was very difficult to get into the “Christmas Spirit”, or the usual frenzied effort to buy the perfect Christmas gift for everyone on my list.   I had just returned from a City where people are still living in ragged tents, or in the midst of rubble, many without enough to eat and a place where children die for no reason other than poverty. Within a week of returning, I made myself go out and buy the first gift and than the second and after that without a qualm the other gifts for the grandchildren and children.

Now it is December 23rd and I am struggling with feelings of hopelessness, despair and incredible sadness. My time in Haiti unreal and dreamlike, I had witnessed people living in grinding poverty and than returned to my world of material abundance.   For a moment there standing on that sidewalk, I wished with all my heart that I was back in Haiti.

As I write this though I am remembering the man with the baby wrapped in ragged blankets at the gates of the hospital in Port Au Prince.  The surroundings where he stood bleak and dirty, but seeing that baby at that moment gave me a feeling of hope and promise. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it (John 1:5).  This world we live in at times seems so hopeless, people losing their jobs, their homes, endless wars, hunger, and poverty.  The baby at the gate reminded me that the light had not been overcome by darkness, for God had come among us and is with us now even in the bleakest of times or places.  

My task this year is to always remember the light and allow my time in Haiti to guide me toward being kinder and more forgiving to others and to myself, and thankfulness for the incredible blessings of my life, the ones that cannot be bought in a store and wrapped in shiny paper; health, food on the table, a roof over my head and most of all good friends and my amazing family.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined. …..for a child has been born for us. (Isaiah)

May the light of Christmas be with you and yours this day and all through the year.