Reach Out at Christmas: Cherish Family, Make Peace

It may not feel like the season to be jolly if all your Christmas cards speak of cancer, strokes, Alzheimer’s, hospice and death, and if your children are scattered over four states and there’s going to be three of you for Christmas dinner. Or if you’re worried that you’ll last longer than your money or that American children are going to die in some God-forsaken desert far away.

You’re blessed if, at 82 and 85, you and your spouse of 60 years are reasonably OK and your children are healthy and loving. And if you have lots of younger friends, and your church is full of good folks and beautiful music, and you can still drive the freeways during daylight, if it’s not raining, and enjoy an occasional game of golf or bridge or a book or movie or TV. We’ve found small ways to help our local Boys & Girls Club and admire all the mentors and tutors in the schools. Reach out to someone ill or friendless to make Christmas more meaningful for you both, and maybe the season will seem more jolly.

Dee Leif

San Clemente

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I took my puppy outside and my new neighbor with her daughter were standing in front of their house. She said she had just come back from another neighbor’s house, after seeing their Christmas tree. It was so beautiful, perfectly color coordinated, each ornament placed in a strategic manner -- and as she was telling me this, you could hear the sadness. I asked her if she wanted to see mine. Mine also was pretty, and she told me she felt bad about her tree not looking as nice as ours.

Her tree was decorated by her children’s school projects, homemade decorations, gingerbread cookies missing an arm or leg, and the regular bulbs placed where the children could reach, whether they matched or not. After listening to her, I said, “You have a family tree.” I realized how I missed my family tree.

The joy of decorating a family tree is one of the best parts of Christmas. As I took out those ornaments from the box I would take an extra moment with each one. The plastic gingerbread man with my son’s face, age 6 at that time. My daughter’s young face glued on a Christmas prayer sealed in clear plastic, the toy truck made from clay in first grade and so on. I would gently place each one on my family tree and my kids would look for their special gifts of years gone by.

I think next year I, too, will have my family tree back. I miss that joy. By the way, my neighbor left with a smile on her face, saying, “Yes, we have a family tree.”

Mary Aquino

Moorpark

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Reading together the call to worship at my sister Rachel’s Christmas pageant, we proclaimed, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news! It is God who calls us to proclaim peace.”

God is bigger than President Bush and his plans for war. God is bigger than U.S. nationalism. God’s divine plan may ultimately call for justice and equity for all the people of the planet. People who are terrorists cannot be Muslims, for Islam means peace. People who call for war are not followers of Jesus.

Peacemakers are not passive, and their activism has historically been threatening to the powerful. Jesus was crucified because he spoke truth to power. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin were all assassinated. These were stronger men than the warmongers because they had the guts to tap into something more significant and enduring than human frailty. Bush is weak, and so are the plans to solve problems with violence.

Christina Rossetti wrote a poem called “Love Came Down at Christmas.” I’m thankful for the Christmas reminder that God injects love into history. We need it right now.

Adrienne Dickinson

San Luis Obispo