i don't know if it was the rain or the coffee. but i started thinking about christmas presents. i started thinking about the events of the past year. i started thinking about myself. i've received some christmas presents this year from different people. people i don't know. i've gotten the gloves and hat that i think all homeless people receive at christmas. i've gotten socks...i needed those. i've gotten various items like razors, deoderant, i think i saw a comb and other things that people think homeless people can use. and we can. i got a gift certificate to a place that serves coffee. uh huh...that was a good one for me. but there were other things that i was given this christmas that i am truly grateful for. gifts that were given to me earlier in life but had somehow slipped away from me.
this christmas i was given the gift of being humble. i have no home. i have money. i have no job. i am humble. i was also given the gift of appreciation. i appreciated every small gift and every act of kindness that was given to me this christmas. from the coffee at the friendship house to the lunches that are served at emmanuel dining room. i am truly grateful. i appreciate all the people behind those places. i appreciate the goodness of their hearts and the kindness in their souls that they exhibit every day. i was given the gift of knowing homeless people. they are some of the most kind, good hearted, well intentioned people i have ever met. they have the very things that mankind is made of...hope....love....happiness...joy.....sorrow....triumph...and disappointment. but they have it at the very base level i wish everyone could experience once in life. i have also been given back the ability to look at people and see beyond the material things. i can see the person. i have learned to listen...really listen to what people are saying and what it means to them. i have been given the gift of seeing children who are otherwise anxious and alittle bewildered about the situation they're in light up when being given christmas presents. i have seen them smile and be reignited with the joy of christmas. i have been given many gifts. but i think the most important gift i have received this year is the gift of finding myself. being homeless brought back to me the things in life that are important. it has brought back to me a purpose and what's important in my life and what's not. it has given me the things i had as a child....things i didn't know where still under my tree. it has made me realize the importance and power of the human spirit and the bond that a common cause can create between people. it has renewed my faith in the human spirit and the power of love that people have in their being. i have lost alot......but i've regained myself...and all that comes with it. i have gained far more than i could ever have lost.
i hope everyone has a merry christmas. i hope everyone finds at least one special gift under their own tree this year. i know i have. remember the homeless this year. be aware of them. if you get a chance...give them a small gift...and in return you just might give yourself the greatest gift you could imagine.
merry christmas everyone. god bless. be safe.
see you around the christmas tree