“I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”
Charles Dickens
The needs are so intense this holiday season that we’re trying to do more. We’re involving our kids in buying gifts for a little girl from the giving tree. The number of kids who qualify for free school lunch has risen in our town and throughout the country. That quickly puts into perspective wanting a new sweater or trinket for Christmas. I truly don’t need any thing.
I like how Dickens poetically describes us all being on the same journey. Why do our hearts open more to helping our fellow passengers this time of year? I don’t know. I do know “the long calendar of the year” is endless for families who can’t afford meals, snow boots or toilet paper. What holiday giving are you doing this year?