During this time of year...
With all of the hustle and bustle that we experience during the Holiday Season, it so easy to overlook little things. We are so busy trying to make sure that every stocking is filled, that underneath the tree is bursting with packages; that our menus are set for that Christmas party or the dinner with family that we forget.....a lot.
I don't know when the tradition of gift giving started, to be honest, at six o'clock in the morning one would be hard pressed to find me researching anything. However, this was laid on my heart, so with fingers on the keypad, here I go. Like I said, I do not know right off the top of my head when exchanging gifts on Christmas became a tradition, perhaps it started on that starry night so many many years ago in Bethlehem when the Magi came bearing gifts for the newborn King. How do I know it was a starry night? The Scripture plainly says that the Magi were following a star that appeared in the sky and that they followed it to their destination, Bethlehem. At that point, and Scripture is not clear on this one, baby Jesus could have been one year old or better, since Herod chose to kill all children that were two years or younger after the Magi visited him inquiring about the King whose star shone in the sky. Scholars figure that their journey from Asia took the better part of at least twelve to eighteen months. Anyway, I'm off track.
My point is that we are so consumed with buying gifts for those we love, the parties, dinners and get-togethers that we forget those who are not or cannot be in the festive mood. I'm not talking about the Scrooges out there, I'm talking about the homeless, the depressed, the ones without family. It is well documented that the holiday season has the highest suicide/murder rate than any other time of the year, mostly on the suicide side. Some folks are good at hiding their feelings, but you can't mask the eyes. If you take the time to look someone in the eyes it is possible to see sadness, I believe. Its not always evident to those who are excited about the upcoming Christmas holiday, but if we slow down just for a second, we might catch a glimpse, but you have to make eye contact. It could be so much as a total sadness in the eyes even if there is a smile present, or it could be as little as a turning away of the eyes, but the signs are always there. We have to take the time to catch it....in time.
OK, before I catch some major grief here, let me explain why I think that most of the time a suicide can be averted. Its all in the time factor on our part. Its taking just a few minutes out of our day, after all, we each have 1440 minutes (yeah, I had to look, but don't expect much more, there's just not enough go-go juice in me to look too many things up yet! lol!) in every day, no more, no less, can't we spare just a few of them to talk to someone? After all, even a smile, a Merry Christmas, how are you doing takes all of five seconds, I know this, I timed it. From there a conversation can be all of five more seconds or many minutes or hours long, depending on the situation, but you have made the connection, one that could make a difference in someones life.
We've all seen them, the stories talking about how one small action, whether it was a word or a kind deed, made a difference in someones life. Like the young high school student that had cleaned out his locker after school so that his parents wouldn't have the task of doing so after his death. On the way home he struggled with the mass amount of books and papers and dropped some, but some other young man saw that the need was there and took action by helping the young man carry his stuff home, not knowing the boys intention of killing himself that very afternoon. This small action averted the violent action and the boys became best friends. Another story is out there about a homeless man who was at wits end, he had lost hope in humanity believing that no one cared about the guy sitting shivering on the street corner holding a sign. A person from a local homeless ministry happened by and gave him a warm jacket, blanket and a place to stay the night as well as a hot meal in his stomach. The next morning he was given names of places that could help him in his quest to become not homeless and the fellow followed up and kept in contact with this homeless man until he was able to stand on his own. The man's hope had been restored. And we can all recall the latest story of a New York Cop who took his own money and bought a homeless man a pair of all weather boots and warm socks and put them on the man's feet himself. Random acts of kindness all, but also quite possibly a suicide aborted.
I guess what I'm saying is this: Take time to say hi. Say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah or whatever holiday you celebrate. Make eye contact. Smile, even if you've had a rough day, chances are someone else's was rougher than yours. Create a random act of kindness. Check on friends or family that you know are having a rough time. Addicts, alcoholics, folks who are depressed, those who are spending the first holiday in many years solo or in a different living situation (one not of their choosing, I'm guessing), one who is just not themselves...take that step and ask them how they're doing, if you can do anything for them. Wish them Merry Christmas, et al., bake some extra cookies and take them some, take that extra step, that few extra minutes to show that someone cares about them. Be the one who makes the difference in a life.
It is said that people come into our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime, and I believe that saying is true. You could be the reason someones life turns around. You could make a difference. Let's try to get that awful number to take a downward spiral now and in the years to come by taking just a few of the 1440 minutes in our day and devoting it to someone who may need only five seconds. You could mean the difference between a full life or a short one.
Have a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays, folks.
L
I don't know when the tradition of gift giving started, to be honest, at six o'clock in the morning one would be hard pressed to find me researching anything. However, this was laid on my heart, so with fingers on the keypad, here I go. Like I said, I do not know right off the top of my head when exchanging gifts on Christmas became a tradition, perhaps it started on that starry night so many many years ago in Bethlehem when the Magi came bearing gifts for the newborn King. How do I know it was a starry night? The Scripture plainly says that the Magi were following a star that appeared in the sky and that they followed it to their destination, Bethlehem. At that point, and Scripture is not clear on this one, baby Jesus could have been one year old or better, since Herod chose to kill all children that were two years or younger after the Magi visited him inquiring about the King whose star shone in the sky. Scholars figure that their journey from Asia took the better part of at least twelve to eighteen months. Anyway, I'm off track.
My point is that we are so consumed with buying gifts for those we love, the parties, dinners and get-togethers that we forget those who are not or cannot be in the festive mood. I'm not talking about the Scrooges out there, I'm talking about the homeless, the depressed, the ones without family. It is well documented that the holiday season has the highest suicide/murder rate than any other time of the year, mostly on the suicide side. Some folks are good at hiding their feelings, but you can't mask the eyes. If you take the time to look someone in the eyes it is possible to see sadness, I believe. Its not always evident to those who are excited about the upcoming Christmas holiday, but if we slow down just for a second, we might catch a glimpse, but you have to make eye contact. It could be so much as a total sadness in the eyes even if there is a smile present, or it could be as little as a turning away of the eyes, but the signs are always there. We have to take the time to catch it....in time.
OK, before I catch some major grief here, let me explain why I think that most of the time a suicide can be averted. Its all in the time factor on our part. Its taking just a few minutes out of our day, after all, we each have 1440 minutes (yeah, I had to look, but don't expect much more, there's just not enough go-go juice in me to look too many things up yet! lol!) in every day, no more, no less, can't we spare just a few of them to talk to someone? After all, even a smile, a Merry Christmas, how are you doing takes all of five seconds, I know this, I timed it. From there a conversation can be all of five more seconds or many minutes or hours long, depending on the situation, but you have made the connection, one that could make a difference in someones life.
We've all seen them, the stories talking about how one small action, whether it was a word or a kind deed, made a difference in someones life. Like the young high school student that had cleaned out his locker after school so that his parents wouldn't have the task of doing so after his death. On the way home he struggled with the mass amount of books and papers and dropped some, but some other young man saw that the need was there and took action by helping the young man carry his stuff home, not knowing the boys intention of killing himself that very afternoon. This small action averted the violent action and the boys became best friends. Another story is out there about a homeless man who was at wits end, he had lost hope in humanity believing that no one cared about the guy sitting shivering on the street corner holding a sign. A person from a local homeless ministry happened by and gave him a warm jacket, blanket and a place to stay the night as well as a hot meal in his stomach. The next morning he was given names of places that could help him in his quest to become not homeless and the fellow followed up and kept in contact with this homeless man until he was able to stand on his own. The man's hope had been restored. And we can all recall the latest story of a New York Cop who took his own money and bought a homeless man a pair of all weather boots and warm socks and put them on the man's feet himself. Random acts of kindness all, but also quite possibly a suicide aborted.
I guess what I'm saying is this: Take time to say hi. Say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah or whatever holiday you celebrate. Make eye contact. Smile, even if you've had a rough day, chances are someone else's was rougher than yours. Create a random act of kindness. Check on friends or family that you know are having a rough time. Addicts, alcoholics, folks who are depressed, those who are spending the first holiday in many years solo or in a different living situation (one not of their choosing, I'm guessing), one who is just not themselves...take that step and ask them how they're doing, if you can do anything for them. Wish them Merry Christmas, et al., bake some extra cookies and take them some, take that extra step, that few extra minutes to show that someone cares about them. Be the one who makes the difference in a life.
It is said that people come into our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime, and I believe that saying is true. You could be the reason someones life turns around. You could make a difference. Let's try to get that awful number to take a downward spiral now and in the years to come by taking just a few of the 1440 minutes in our day and devoting it to someone who may need only five seconds. You could mean the difference between a full life or a short one.
Have a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays, folks.
L
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