The ringing is incessant and then becomes a silent part of the constant din of noise – cars starting and driving off, and people hurrying by, captured in constant conversation about the last or next shopping destination. And there I stand, most of the times in the cold – always ringing the little brass bell.
I volunteer through my Rotary Club to ring the Salvation Army bell each year. Each year I hesitate to sign up for a couple of hours of standing in the cold. Each year I think of hundreds of other things I could be doing instead, and each year I sign-up to ring that little bell.
It happens to me every year. Somehow, as people walk by – a variety of faces, ages, economic classes – I see them acknowledge the bell and the bucket and what it represents: the presence of charity in our world. And as slowly and steadily breath brings life into my lungs, each time I speak to the passersby “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas” I feel that elusive spirit of Christmas enter into my spirit and I know that beneath and behind all of the trappings of the holiday, people know , need and seek the blessing of Charity.
The ringing of that bell is when I find Christmas, every year and this year, on December 22nd, I will do it again.
YOU are a good person, my friend. But then again, that was never in doubt.
ReplyDeleteWow, I never knew that! :) That's awesome. Dress warmly!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful thing you do. The soup kitchens and missions are in big need this year. Thank you so much for your kind heart!
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be the one time each year, as Dickens observed -- at least in Western society -- when a great many of us open our hearts to others and heed, however briefly or imperfectly, the whispered promptings of the better angels of our nature.
ReplyDeleteA blessing on all those who help.