Using the Holidays to Expand and Make Space
This article is a re-share from 2023 regarding the Christmas story as a story of "making room" for one another. It highlights a video between two high-profile women athletes as an entree to the discussion. We'd love to hear your thoughts!
The Misogynoir to Mishpat (M2M) Research Network © 2024
Making Space for the Other
Like many of you, I sometimes combat the temptation to become a but cynical of the Christmas holidays. I wonder why there's a "sudden" interest in those who are disadvantaged - whether the working poor or the homeless. I think about the "good will" that often emerges through strained smiles, tense family gatherings and stressful waits in the airports or during long drives between Christmas Dinner and home. How can we truly make space for one another instead of being consumed by the energy of the holidays?
A Nostalgic Past
This year, I have been contemplating the transformative power of the Gospel when juxtaposed with a holiday season which threatens to reduce it to commercialism. My holiday celebrations have taken many turns over the years. I think of the sounds of Christmas - my favorite Christmas movies (including Charlie Brown Christmas and a Christmas Carol with George C. Scott). I smile and pause when hearing the sounds of "traditional carols," punctuated by Nat King Cole or the Temptations. (Can anyone sing "Silent Night" like that?)
I think of the smells of Christmas, the fresh pine tree smell in our living room. Or, I think about stepping into my grandmother's kitchen, always surprised when my glasses would fog up from the heat of whatever she was cooking. I think of the weight of Christmas - the gifts that start out weighing 10 pounds but double in their heaviness after racing through yet another airport so I could fly economy. I always seemed to land in a terminal on one side of the airport with my transfer clear over to the other side. Pulling luggage and gifts as I ran down one corridor and another, was an event of great proportions only topped by collapsing into my plane seat, brushing back my hair and realizing that it was all sweat back! I could just about smell the Ultra Sheen!
Family Meals
With little coaxing, my mind takes me back to scenes of siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles - many who now rest with the ancestors. Our Christmas holiday was always spent with my mother's family - often with each generation in a different room, eating and laughing. Often, someone would bring an unanticipated guest. But, we would just squeeze in closer and make room. Click here to continue reading.
Dr. CL Nash, the Misogynoir to Mishpat (M2M) Research Network © 2024