With Christmas just two days away, I felt it only fitting to look at the impact of Covid-19 on our holiday activities. Many felt the sting of Covid over Thanksgiving when we were unable to gather as we are accustom to doing. We see the same situation for Christmas, but to compound things, we also have fewer gifts under our trees. Many have lost their jobs or have reduced hours that places financial hardships that we must endure.
While we are crying over our eggnog, let us take a moment and put ourselves in the place where many people are today, namely homeless. Since the pandemic, the homeless numbers have grown to astounding levels. Many of these homeless people that we tend to overlook or avoid were just like us just a few short months ago. Job loss, evictions, and lack of employment have placed them where they felt they would never be. A few months ago, they were our neighbors, but now we avoid them like they are defective or undesirable.
As you sit in front of your holiday feast, think about this. The shelters are full, and many areas do not even have them. Due to Covid, there will be nowhere for these people to partake of a hot meal, let alone a Christmas feast. Temperatures are reaching freezing; still, these people must endure and hopefully survive while we grumble because we didn’t get that expensive gift we wanted, and our feast isn’t as fancy as it has been.
We must remember that we are all human, and our situation could quickly become like theirs. Gone are the days when the homeless bum was usually an alcoholic or addicted to drugs. Now the homeless have included educated people with trades and skills that have lost everything. Isn’t it time we take a moment to give thanks for what we have and open our hearts to those who have nothing? Perhaps it is time to support an effort to not only help meet the immediate needs of these downtrodden humans but also to allow them to acquire new skills that will provide for them in the future. You never know, next week you may find yourself in the same situation. Let us all stand together and do what we can to stamp out this tragedy and help this nation rise to the greatness it once had! Christmas is not about us; it is about a child born to a poor family. A child that grew up and loved us so much that He gave everything for us. We claim we would Die for him, so why can’t we live for him? He says, ‘As you have done to the least of these, so have you done to me’ (Jesus Christ.)
I will be starting a GoFundMe site to accept contributions for a program to assist in the immediate needs and provide training in finance and resource management, and teaching basic life skills. Follow the link to contribute!
