Bah, Humbug!

“He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.” – Roy L. Smith



This is my “Bah! Humbug!” time of year. The warm glow of Thanksgiving and initial excitement about Christmas has passed, and the sure-to-occur thankful happiness that Christmas brings has yet to happen. Where I am now is buried in unfinished tasks and a “To Do” list so long there’s no way I can get it all crossed off by December 24.


My mood is not festive and I am feeling overwhelmed. With Mr. Clark’s help, I have managed to accomplish the first round of holiday chores, which includes buying, packing and shipping the out-of-town gifts, designing and ordering this year’s Christmas card, putting the tree up, and pulling the one million and one Christmas bins out of the attic.


I still have to decorate the tree, finish shopping, wrap our gifts, write our festive annual holiday letter, finish decorating the house, and hang the wreaths…Good grief! It’s December 15 and my wreaths aren’t up yet? And, did I mention? My house hasn’t been cleaned in weeks.


Of course, this is all self-inflected, self-created torture. The holidays don’t have to be about any of this. The year Mr. Clark was out of work we didn’t buy anything and my “To Do” list was very short. It mostly involved things like, “Remember we still have our health,” and, “At least our kids are doing well, ‘Thank You, Santa!’”


And, while it wasn’t’ our happiest holiday season ever, we did manage to find some Christmas cheer and I didn’t spend the entire month of December pulling my hair out and yelling things like, “I can’t remember the last time I did something I actually wanted to do!” Ouch!


Christmas should be a humble, happy time – a time to do good for others and reflect on one’s own blessings. It shouldn’t be the task-laden Holidaypalooza it so often turns into; but, how to re-seize the spirit?


Well, as the Good Lord so often does, He stepped into my heart the other day and got me back on track. I volunteer at a clinic for people with no money or health insurance on Mondays and this past Monday was a busy day. LOTS of sick folks, a long line of people waiting to be seen, and one of the two nurse practitioners was out sick. The other one had to take her husband to the doctor, so she called and said she wasn’t sure when she could make it, but she would come in.


It was so cold in the drafty old building where the clinic is, that everyone waiting to be seen ended up crowded into the small reception area where my “job” is to man the desk, take calls and manage traffic flow. One of the things on the reception desk is a bin of hotel soaps, shampoos and lotions that people donate to the clinic for patients to take home for free. Since many of the clients are homeless or staying at Salvation Army or having really hard times, this bin generates a lot of interest – especially on a cold day when everyone waiting to be seen is huddled in the reception room trying to stay warm.

This week there was also a box of brightly wrapped packages in the reception room - hats, socks, gloves and scarves the Fall batch of volunteers from the medical school donated to give away “One gift per patient only, please.”


As the waits got longer with no nurse practitioner in sight, the mood in the reception room soured. Questions like, “Are we ever going to be seen?” and “Is that nurse even coming in?” began to be grumbled, louder and louder. We started turning patients away and rescheduling others – it didn’t look good.


And, then, a retired nurse who dispenses the medications at the clinic, came out of the back and said, gaily, “Has everyone here gotten their Christmas gift?”


One by one, the patients went to the box or asked me for what they needed. “I’d like one of them boxes with a hat and sox,” one homeless man said. Another woman asked if she could have one of the kids’ presents instead of her own, “for my grandbaby who’s waiting at home.”

Opening and donning the gifts took the edge off the tone in the reception room. And, then, one of the patients started digging through the hotel samples, showing others the particularly fine finds, passing them out as if she were Santa Claus. Before long, the atmosphere was downright festive.


The nurse arrived, the patients were seen and the day ended with everyone wishing everyone, “Merry Christmas!” I left the clinic feeling a lot warmer inside than when I’d arrived. So what if some of those holiday tasks don’t get done? Watching those folks’ genuine happiness over some donated hats, sox and hotel toiletry samples had given me a fresh perspective.
 
The Ghost of Christmas Present told Ebeneezer Scrooge, “There is never enough time to do or say all the things we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short and suddenly, you’re not here any more.” Amen! Mr. Ghost, amen!