Sharing.

Do we just throw out the things we don’t need or like anymore? Do we drop off at Goodwill or Food Bank or things similar and hope someone might rumble through the pile and take it away, that some of the things I don’t want, or need would be OK or useful for someone homeless or wandering the streets or just needing clothes? 

We throw out things that have no value to us, but we had put down the dollars to buy back when it was a fad, or something enticing, or maybe it was one of those gifts someone gifted me, but I didn’t like — at least I was trying to find it a home, like a street person, homeless, freezing, wet from rain. Do we bag it up and take it to Goodwill or Red Cross? Do we empty that closet, clean it, bag it up, and take it to somewhere it would be appreciated and useful? I’m as guilty at this as anyone is about cleaning closets - well, maybe I’ll get fat again, or maybe I’ll need it to climb another mountain. Those dreams are surely ridiculous in the moment when there are needy people. 

We save clothes and things just in case.  I pretty much wear the same thing every day - I have two of Lululemon pants that I alternate - especially in Uruguay - isolated there in the banario - and I don’t have to dress fancy, or even priestly because I don’t go anywhere. I just wear summer or winter objects that keep warm or super warm when braving those harsh winds on my daily walk. And most of my clothes are back in Memphis hanging in a closet - not being needed or used. True, my husband won’t give anything away to anyone because he never had things, and now he does and so he keeps everything and most of it he doesn’t even use. 

One of the people I most admire, Christine Todd, is tirelessly asking people not to throw out things but to give them to her - be it socks, shirts, sweaters, pants, shoes, coats, whatever one can spare, new or old, so she can give them to the homeless, the hundreds of homeless who come to our church for help. Calvary even offers free vaccinations for coronavirus and flu shots and shingles and so many things that people need like a place to drink water and wash hands. Most of us have closets full of clothes we don’t wear - which we hang on to thinking maybe one day — but that one day rarely appears. And so, things hang there useless when someone needs a jacket, a sweater, a pair of pants or shoes.  I’m as bad about that as everyone. And shoes. Oh my gosh. Then there are canned foods and things in the cupboard that we never use nor eat. We waste money and space. Of course, these are objects. 

There is another kind of sharing - sharing a hug, a good sentence of encouragement, a smile to make someone else smile, a word about love and God and Jesus that might heal someone who has no hope or belief but might be open to courage and trust. Joking about sports team is also a cool conversation. And asking questions about how someone else feels, not always talking about my problems or how I feel or what I want to do. This is sharing of the heart and soul.

Now the Christmas season is knocking on our door. Don’t forget to remember people who have befriended you, argued or laughed with you, gone to dinner or the theater or a basketball game with you, and all who serve you, whether it be at the Kroger check-out, or a house cleaner, or the guy with the leaf lower at 7 in the morning, and especially the medical field whose lives have changed radically due to the coronavirus, and who have had to watch helplessly as people died from a virus no one really knows. Give someone a ride to the doctors or dentists, go shopping for someone stuck in the house for various reasons. We need to share, most of all, our love and encouragement and give hope and laughter to those who are suffering. Throw your change or even better dollars in the red kettles or sign up to sponsor a child on Christmas — whether you have your own child or grandchild or not.  And never forget the police, the firemen, the ambulance workers, the sheriffs — all who risk their lives for us day in and day out.

What do you do to celebrate Christmas? There are plenty of opportunities to assist at food pantries or meals in churches for the street people. My favorite thing on Christmas Eve is to surprise the “dispatchers” with Santa gifts since they must work on Christmas Eve when others are at home with their families.  Find something that will boost the spirits of others, as well as yourself. Rather than adding 5 or 10 more gifts for your child under the tree - most mothers put up on shelves to store for rainy days because they got way too many gifts under the tree - find a project where you can give bicycles, dolls, games, sports gear, mini cars and even pets that will go to children who have no hope for Christmas gifts. Isn’t Christmas about giving and loving and hoping by bringing Joy to the World?

 Wouldn’t it be wonderful if on Christmas morn there was nothing under your tree because all you had purchased was given to the poor, the hungry, the needy? And then one can celebrate the birthday of Jesus with a small cake and a single candle and go to church and give thanks for being alive and taking care of others. Then there is purpose and meaning in this holiday which announces and celebrates the birth of Christ in a dusty barn where no one dare to step, since it was all that was left for this young teenage woman birthing the holy Son of God. 
 ~ Rev

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audrey@audreytaylorgonzalez.com
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