“There comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other.” — Wangari Maathai, Kenyan activist
It’s the holidays and I find myself being in a cozy, lazy mood. It’s Solstice time with the return of much needed light. It’s Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa. I don’t have to try to be productive. I can give myself a break. I don’t have to worry about what’s coming down the road. I can just be present and think about the presents I want to give. And the food I want to cook.
It’s a time to treasure our birth or chosen family. It’s a time when we widows and single older women start watching romantic, kitschy holiday movies. Sometimes we wish we were young and in love again or wish a more elderly potential lover would be able to make it to our front door and be able to ring our doorbell!
I also want to stop and be grateful for all I have and how privileged I am as a white, retirement-supported human being. My heart is continually being drawn to the man sleeping on the sidewalk as I make my way to the public library. I try to imagine how desperate this person must be and how cold. Or the woman who simply wants enough money to feed her children. I am not trying to tamper with the joy of the season. I am just trying to understand my own conflicted feelings.
I am in a shop where I overhear an older man asking the salesperson for advice. He wants to find a young person present to put under a “Giving Tree” and needs some suggestions. Later, I run into a Latino friend. He has lived in Eugene for decades and has a professional job. He tells me a recent story where he is called a “wetback.”
This brings me to my Salvadoran asylum seekers who I worry about daily. They are working more than 40 hours a week to bring family here before Donald Trump takes office. My dear immigrant friends are beautiful, hard working people and I love them dearly.
This season as white supremacy rears its ugly head, many of us know what’s coming, and I am afraid it is not Santa Claus! I am more hopeful living in the Pacific Northwest where natural Christmas tree-like forests are treasured.
This season I want to honor our local SURJ (Standing Up for Racial Justice), ShelterCare, OCAN (Oregon Community Asylum Network), Refugee Resettlement Coalition, Basic Rights Oregon, NAACP and FOOD For Lane County for all they do to help those less fortunate or those who have been vilified.
I love living where I live even if we do have a lot of work to do. This holiday season let’s give the gifts of our voices, our written opinions, our beliefs in loving kindness no matter race or creed or gender, our offers of help and hope to those less fortunate than ourselves. Let’s remake our country into a land of love and not hate, of diversity instead of white privilege, of equal rights and marriage equality. For love is love no matter what! Happiest of holidays to all! And to all a good night!