This is what Christmas COULD mean . . .

I've been perusing a few Mormon blogs recently. And came across a really wonderful blog about one woman's feelings about Christmas. She said much better what I have been feeling. So with her permission I lifted it in it's entirety from her family blog: http://davesagegallagher.blogspot.com
I pray that this woman's sentiments will be mine for the coming year.

Each Christmas I try to resist focusing only on gifts for my family and myself (yes, I buy gifts for myself from “Santa”). This year I am thinking of the stark differences between the lives of us first-worlders and the rest of the world. As an average American have you ever had to struggle to meet your physical needs? Maybe you struggle to pay your credit card bills on time, or keep within your budget, or lose a few pounds, or find a better job? Or be on time to work? Or keep your home clean? Or be a better mother and wife? Or perhaps you struggle with depression or health problems? These are all valid, but have you ever had to struggle for water to drink and food to eat and clothes to wear? Too many of God’s children struggle with these basic needs every day.It is my belief that God put each of us where we are for a reason. But that reason may not just be that you deserved it. I think He wants us to reach out beyond ourselves, losing ourselves in the service of others.

We can find plenty of opportunities to do this if we look for them.I want to share a few scenes from my experience as a missionary in Peru from 1988-1990. For a few months I lived in a small mountain town called Huánuco that housed the poorest people up on the hills, the better-off people down in the valley. One day we met a small boy who looked about three years old struggling to carry a bucket full of water up the hill. He wore no shoes and his clothes were torn and dirty. We offered to help him. We followed him home, which required a climb up a ladder and scaling steep paths in the dusty mountainside all while carrying the bucket. I wondered how this little guy did this chore on his own.At the very top of the line of huts, we met his mother. She was humble and grateful for our assistance. She offered us a drink made from this precious liquid so carefully hauled up the mountain. We chatted with her about our work as missionaries as she boiled the water and prepared what appeared to be hot chocolate from the label on the can. Unfortunately, it was coffee and as Mormons we don’t drink coffee. I felt so bad that she had gone to so much work and we had to refuse her service to us. I think she quickly made us some chamomile tea, probably saving the coffee for later. My only consolation was to tell her that her beautiful view of the mountains would only be enjoyed by the wealthiest people in the United States. She seemed to like that idea.

Another scene in Lima, Peru near the Santa Anita neighborhood, involves a little boy in a light blue shirt and a big grin. I believe we met his family while we were walking in their dusty neighborhood. His mother was interested in talking to us. She lived in a tent-like structure inside a large enclosure where trucks were stored for repairs (I think). Even in that make-shift space, she kept things tidy and organized. She had one especially troubling problem. Her son did not have a birth certificate so the schools would not allow him to attend. She did not have enough money to buy the school supplies and uniform to send her ten-year old son to school, even if he did have the necessary papers. He did not know how to read. As missionaries, we’d been given a manual from the church on how to teach reading and writing and I had received some training. We had time to teach him for a month or so. He was a smart boy and tried hard to learn quickly. He signed my book of “recuerdos” (memory book) just before I went home. “Carlos ama Hermana Draper.” Carlos loves Sister Draper. He struggled to learn the letters and the sounds, but he mastered them well enough to write that sweet message to me.

American-style struggles don’t usually involve the basic needs of life. We struggle not to have too much clutter from our constant purchases, we struggle not to eat so much of the bounteous food available to us that we become obese, we struggle to find meaning in our lives—kind of opposite problems most people struggle with in the rest of the world. Our struggles seem mainly psychological or emotional in nature.

What a perfect match! If we could give more to help people struggling with physical needs, I think our emotional struggles would gain some healing. What do you think? We would have less to spend on clutter and overeating. We would feel a greater sense of purpose as we connect with those whose struggles are for basic needs.The people I met in Peru were not unhappy. I’m sure they struggled with similar things all humans do about their identities and such, but they seemed happier than many in our prosperous nation. I learned a great lesson as I served among the poor in Peru. Happiness doesn’t come from things, but from humility and gratitude.

I remember one family in particular that demonstrated great joy in their lives, even though they were very poor and lived in a grass-thatched hut in a “barrio joven,” (meaning “young neighborhood,” a euphemistic term for slum) where there was about one pipe of water where kids would take turns filling up their buckets and one hole for human waste (inside a hut for privacy) in the middle of hundreds of people. The husband was the mission leader for the ward (area) we worked in as missionaries. When we came to their home, they fed us a refreshing yogurt shake and rice and beans. I remember the wife cheerfully singing as she fixed some of their meager food for us. The sincere smile on her face still echoes beautifully in my memory.

Having such personal access to the lives of the poor changed me. I can’t live an American-style consumer-centric life knowing how many of God’s children struggle for basic needs in faraway places (and some closer to home too). I want to encourage all of us, as Americans, who may be struggling financially in an economic downturn, but continue to have our basic needs met above and beyond measure, to give of ourselves, even if it hurts a little. I told my husband I don’t want to get any presents this year (he was a little disappointed, but I told him he could buy me the stuff I need, like new gloves and phones to replace our broken ones). What I want is for other people to have more of their basic needs met.

What can we do? We can buy less of what we don’t really need this Christmas and help others who need the necessities of life. Donate to organizations that strike at the root of poverty, such as:
http://www.grameenfoundation.org
http://www.heifer.org
http://www.christianchildrensfund.org.