The Life of Liz

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~Anne Frank

Saturday, December 26, 2009

I carry with me the true spirit of Christmas...and Hannukah



Today, I donned some gay apparel (a holiday sweater loaned by Aunt Kathy! I am normally opposed to such garb, but today I carried with me the true spirit of Christmas and thus needed to look a little more festive. Thanks AK!) and I took my slightly battered dulcimer to a local nursing home. I wanted to spread a little holiday cheer to some people who might not get any other visitors so I googled nursing homes in my area. I found one that looked like a winner and ran a little mapquest.

It's behind my bank.
The bank I go to twice a month, every month.
This nursing home is right there.

I've never seen it.

A Rabbi I know pointed out that the festivals of this time of year all tend to involve light. Some light a menorah, others a Christmas tree, or maybe just a pretty candle. At this season, when the days are shortest, we all seem to have this deep primal need to light up the darkness, be we Jewish, Christian, or pagan.

Light helps us see.

So many people on the fringes of society - the elderly, the homeless, all those "lost in the system" - are virtually invisible.
We just
don't
see
them.

And so I tell you this story of me in a holiday sweater at a nursing home on Christmas day, not to brag about how awesome I am or great is was (and it was really great), but because I think you might be where I was:

blind to the opportunities around me
unable to see the needs I could meet in some small way

Maybe this story will help you see better.
It is the season
of light.

1 comments:

Bonnie December 26, 2009 at 10:25:00 PM MST  

this post is amazing jill.

and so are you.

i'm inspired.

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A brand new mom trying to navigate the crazy world of mixed families, babies, and working full time. Phew! Just writing that makes me want to lie down.

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