Where Are You Christmas ~ Neighbors and Strangers
Happy Christmas Dear Reader,
One of the dangers of seeking Christmas this year is getting too caught up in finding it for myself. In addition to avoiding dwelling too much on what I am missing, I must not focus on Christmas relative to my needs at the expense of seeing the needs of others. I am not just talking about the common necessities or comforts associated with this season of the year.
I encounter neighbors and strangers every day. I interact with family daily. Even when I have little, I have something to offer. I have something to give every soul I encounter. If I am too focused on my own needs and wants then I will not see the opportunities in my path.
When I am out and about, I can still give to others what I give every year. I can still sing Christmas hymns quietly and clearly to lighten the hearts of others around me. It is still easy to be courteous to shoppers and store staff, treating them with deference and kindness. I can give thousands of tiny gifts if I will simply do so by being aware of the needs of neighbors and strangers around me.
Further, I can ask the Father for the same thing for my ornaments lost in the night (if you do not understand this, see yesterday’s post). This is how we are supposed to journey through the Christmas season and life. I may not be able to help those that I love that are beyond my ability or reach. I will be faithful to the needs around me for the sake of Christmas. I will in turn ask that the Father care for those I love.
So, here is part two of the story from the album Christmas Eve and Other Stories. Whether it is the intervention of an angel, the observation of awareness, or the product of prayer, we do have so many ways we can give that only cost our time and attention. We can deliver gifts of kindness and love in ways that are lasting and have impact.
Where are you Christmas? You are in the smile on the face of the clerk with whom you took a moment to genuinely that for her help. You are in heart of a man for whom you prayed who got exceptionally good news. You are in the ease of a lady for whom you took her trolley so that she would not have to carry her child in the rain. You are in every kind moment expressed with a loving heart that refuses to be buried by sorrow and loss.
Are you finding Christmas Dear Reader? Perhaps this song will move you along the path toward it. Tell me of your opportunities to pass on the love, kindness, and giving of the season. Your stories will encourage me to do more.
After he had heard the prayer
The angel gently set it free
And followed it to the father’s child
In a faraway city
And there the girl in desperation
Was searching through the sky
For a star that she could wish upon
But stars were in short supply
And the only light that she could see
There shining all alone
Was a neon sign on an old bar
And so on this, she wished she was home
Old City Bar — Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Now every light can be a star
Just depends on where you are
And the distance that you’re looking
Past the places you have been
And the dreams you’ve left behind
And the dreams you’ve left within
In an old city bar
That is never too far
From the places that gather
The dreams that have been
In the safety of night
With its old neon light
It beckons to strangers
And they always come in
And the snow it was falling
The neon was calling
The music was low
And the night
Christmas Eve
And here was the danger
That even with strangers
Inside of this night
It’s easier to believe
Then the door opened wide
And a child came inside
That no one in the bar
Had seen there before
And he asked did we know
That outside in the snow
That someone was lost
Standing outside our door
Then the bartender gazed
Through the smoke and the haze
Through the window and ice
To a corner streetlight
Where standing alone
By a broken pay phone
Was a girl the child said
Could no longer get home
And the snow it was falling
The neon was calling
The bartender turned
And said, “Not that I care
But how would you know this?”
The child said “I’ve noticed
If one could be home
They’d be all ready there”
Then the bartender came out from behind the bar
And in all of his life he was never that far
And he did something else that he thought no one saw
When he took all the cash from the register draw
Then he followed the child to the girl ‘cross the street
And we watched from the bar as they started to speak
Then he called for a cab and he said, “J.F.K.”
Put the girl in the cab and the cab drove away
And we saw in his hand
That the cash was all gone
From the light that she had
Wished upon
If you want to arrange it
This world you can change it
If we could somehow make this
Christmas thing last
By helping a neighbor
Or even a stranger
And to know who needs help
You need only just ask
Then he looked for the child
But the child wasn’t there
Just the wind and the snow
Waltzing dreams through the air
So he walked back inside
Somehow different I think
For the rest of the night
No one paid for a drink
And the cynics will say
That some neighborhood kid
Wandered in on some bums
In the world where they hid
But they weren’t there
So they couldn’t see
By an old neon star
On that, night, Christmas Eve
When the snow it was falling
The neon was calling
And in case you should wonder
In case you should care
Why we’re on our own
Never went home
On that night of all nights
We were already there
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, “That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
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Originally published at aramisthorn.blogspot.com on December 13, 2018.