A Few Minutes with the Mayor – December 2019/January 2020

Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Fa la la la la, la la la la
‘Tis the season to be jolly
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Familiar words at this time of year, yes, but what if we cannot muster up any “jolly-ness?” What if we live very alone? What if we live on empty pockets? Well, we know folks like this and to brighten their Christmas, I am reminded of organizations such as the Medford Gospel Mission who reach out to the less fortunate every year. The Christmas dinners they provide have a special flavor served with a caring hand.

Another is ACCESS, the regional food bank for the county, which operates all year helping those in need. Kellie Battaglia, their Development Director wrote us that ACCESS has their own unique program at Christmas time:

For over 30 years, during the holiday season, the annual ACCESS Senior Shoebox Program brings gifts of cheer and care to low income seniors, people with disabilities and people who are homebound in Jackson County. Donors and volunteers … fill and wrap shoeboxes with a variety of gift items from the Senior Shoebox Wishlist, which are then hand-delivered the week before Christmas.

For many recipients, this will be the only gift they receive for the holidays. One senior responded to her gift with this message. “Yesterday I received a bountiful gift, a surprise from you; it was the best Christmas present in my 92 years, especially because it came from caring and loving hearts. Each package I opened made me feel like a little girl at her first Christmas tree. I’ve never received gifts that pleased me so, as if the givers knew and loved me.”

Shoeboxes will be accepted through December 10th and they will be delivered during the week of December 16th. If you know of someone in need, want to donate a filled shoebox or help with delivery please visit: https://www.accesshelps.org/”

What a great Christmas program reaching out to friend and stranger alike, regardless of those differences which divide us. Donating a shoebox blesses both the giver and the receiver while demonstrating the true spirit of this holiday.

I am thinking of something else folks can do to spread joy this season, and that is to consider those living alone. We know there must be many for whom any holiday intensifies their aloneness. We all know someone alone who would welcome an invite to Christmas dinner, in our neighborhoods, even someone at work or place of worship. What a gesture of peace and goodwill! What a reward for everyone striving to be jolly again! Maybe that dinner will taste even better!

Then we anticipate the beginning of a new year, a time for resolutions to stop doing this or begin doing that. Come the New Year and we might pledge to lose ten pounds, or perhaps to visit Aunt Fanny more often—well-intended promises to ourselves and soon forgotten.

How about one pledge we can all make which would benefit everyone, ourselves as well as those we meet? Pledge to BE MORE TOLERANT! Three little words but what a change they could make in today’s world of raucous discord! Perhaps the next time we encounter someone with whom we strongly disagree and feel like twisting into a pretzel, let’s take a breath, ask when did I begin to stop listening while becoming a zealot for this or that? If all we hear is that with which we agree, won’t we be the poorer for it? Time to climb off the platform of political, cultural, and social narcissism, and welcome a simple change in attitude towards others. What inner peace, maybe even jolly-ness, without prescriptions.

Proverbs 29:11 tells us, “A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.” Showing tolerance to others is certainly appropriate as we celebrate His birthday.

Merry Christmas to each and every one!