Presence

Perhaps in no other season do people go searching as much for what is missing in their lives. In December they look for signs of hope, and they try to help others get by.

A solitary pilgrim walks through the dark Russian forest repeating a simple prayer--that Christ’s breath would live inside him. Kerry walks the Santiago de Compostela in Spain and finds what she thought was lost. Lawrence works in a hospital kitchen in France; when he gets home, he answers letters from people struggling with faith. Katherine goes to work at L’Arche in Toronto and helps the developmentally challenged get through another day. Catholic Workers in Chicago raise vegetables to feed the hungry and provide spiritual nourishment. On cold Oakland streets, Ann brings blankets and coats out to those trying to survive without homes. At Taizé, people of all faiths come together to pray and sing. On the island of Iona, people learn how to help those who have been marginalized by industrial society.

In the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Giant Sequoias stand in the snow and marvel at the stars moving across the sky, watching as they have since before the baby was first foretold. Nothing happens at Christmas, except the birth of hope. We feel this when we stare up at the stars when we’re in the mountains, on the sand at the edge of an ocean, or standing in our backyard.