Time for Give and Take
Was it worth it? All that fretting and stressing about what still needed doing on your long list to prepare for this season? Did the gift that you thought was perfect really matter? Did it invite warmth in this season that focusses on giving? It would be incredible if the things you worked so hard to achieve really did make Christmas for you.
I’m guessing though, that what “makes” Christmas for most, is not the giving and receiving of material things so much as the time spent with one another, or that moment that caught you off guard, but filled your heart. Money cannot buy those moments but God knows we need them. While we have the give and take of material things pretty well nailed down, the give and take necessary in relationships is much harder to hold to. And with each new person added to the collection of your people, the challenge is greater still. That can be complicated in a family, but extend that dynamic to a community and it is exponentially harder. Then throw in a subject where lives and livelihoods are at stake, and it is almost impossible. Family stories, community stories, national stories are woven around how we respond to crisis. As history plays out, stories are remembered by chapters of drama. How the drama unfolds depends on each of us as the principle players.
Lets just name it. With the recent announcement by the government of Nova Scotia concerning Northern Pulp, this Christmas has been very difficult for many. There is so much at stake and so much uncertainty. Families are worried about how the next chapter of their lives will play out, except this is not a story about some far off place, this is our story. This is the one our children and grandchildren inherit. History will see it more clearly, as time always provides that objectivity. Yet one thing is pretty clear. We will get though this crisis more easily if we are in it together. Pitting one side against the other is not going to solve anything. In these communities, give and take, compassion and understanding, will be essential.
What has any of this to do with faith? Consider the season! The only reason we celebrate the birth of Jesus, is because his life and particularly his death and resurrection, matter. As he faced the biggest crisis in his life, Jesus forgave the friends who abandoned him, and those who sentenced him to death. His strength and leadership in that crisis has given us something to hope for and believe in for two millennia. As the story plays out, his strength and his belief in something better provide the basis for those of us who struggle in the crises of our own time. The way I see it, the only one way through this is together. Pray for each other, help each other, understand the need and we can get through this life changing reality. There is no common enemy, there are only neighbours who want the same things. Writing the next chapter is critically important. Living into the give and take, offers faith for today and hope for tomorrow.
Rev. Donna Tourneur ministers among the people of Trinity United Church in New Glasgow.