My first winter working for a transportation company was turbulent. The war on terrorism, global economic protest, the domestic protest on a sacred parcel of land, hostile management at work, and my dying mother had complicated my holiday season. Fortunately, it was simple for me to find the Christmas spirit through one emotion: hope.
Within our culture, performance is regulated through convenience, competition, and demand for control of a business system. The question becomes: How do you find self-identity and the confidence to earn a good quality of life on your merit? I find the only thing that remains sacred within the heart is…hope.
Who has the ability to acknowledge hope? Who has the influence to encourage others to hope? Who among us may, without hesitation, express hope?
A husband, wife, daughter, and very young son had arrived in our community after a long journey from Central America. They planned to use appropriate government resources to establish themselves in our community as a representation against the hardships of this country’s immigration policy.
At an event, I was asked about where children should search to find themselves. I responded it was Christmas time and described an upcoming event put on by a local nonprofit to help needy children in the community.
The question was: why had the children journeyed so far to see nothing more than materialism? I said, “Maybe the children are more than mere objects of materialism.”
When the audience challenged my speculation, I suggested they participate in the nonprofit. Then, I asked the family whether the children knew it was Christmas. The father said the children knew it was a commercial holiday.
At the nonprofit event, the father said Christmas is all about commercialism, which made other attendees mad. But then everyone grew quiet as the brother and the sister watched the actor playing Santa Claus in awe.
“Is that you?” they asked.
Santa smiled his jolly smile; the children smiled back.
The sister asked, “Why do you give toys to us?”
“Because it is not only my job but also my responsibility to provide toys and essentials to help children grow and develop,” said Santa Claus.
“Thank you, Santa Claus,” said the sister. “For the joy you have just given my brother, me, and all the children here. Our hearts are filled with hope because you chose to be here for us.”
Suddenly, all the patrons forgot about our commercialized world and wished each other a Merry Christmas!
