I am a pauper who lives as if there were ever 100 gold coins in the heart.
For Christmas dinner, there is no ham on the table to offer, neither bountiful bowl of mashed potatoes nor basket bursting with dinner rolls, no fine chocolates or gourmet coffee.
On my table you’ll find a plate of scrambled eggs with spinach, bowls of soup, slices of bread, butter and a bottle of red wine. I share what I have and it is made abundant with a giving heart.
Christmas is a season of miracles. Christmas does not recognize the face of poverty or wealth. Christmas recognizes the heart that is giving, generosity, kindness and caring. Christmas recognizes above all how the gift is given, the intention of the heart.
I’ve been witness to gifts given that have no meaning; the act of giving is void of energy, the gift of meaning. I’ve been witness to individuals gathered at a table laden with a feast that drops me to my knees in praises and draws from others not a whisper of song from the lips. I’ve been witness to waste, to presents given where there is no need and shallow or desperate gifting copouts. I’ve been witness to excesses that are abundant commercially and spiritually bankrupt.
Viewing my apartment, one would never know that yesterday was Christmas. There are no presents strewn about, no balls of wrapping paper and ribbon. There is no tree bedecked with twinkling lights, no fragrance of pine and no leftovers in the refrigerator.
The signs of Christmas are in here (hand over heart) and on the pages of my journal. Save for two, each gift that I received arrived not in a box but as an action of kindness and thoughtfulness.
“Every moment of Christmas Eve and Christmas is genuine and authentic, revealing of the mystery and the Light,” I penned on my pages in the closing hours of Christmas night. “I feel the presence of others and strange though it may sound my presence in their lives or thoughts. I feel others reaching out to help me in a time of struggle and hardship as I have extended myself to help others.”
If it’s an abundance of food and presents around the tree that is desired, I would kindly invite you to visit a neighbor. If you can accept the simple and the humble and the genuine come in please. Draw forth a chair from the three, break bread and share soup and wine. It is Christmas. There are ever 100 gold coins in my heart and the holy conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in the sky.