John Whitehead's Commentary
Christmas is a Time to Help the Needy
Since my parents did not celebrate Christmas in the traditional sense, they would give me my presents either a few days before Christmas or on Christmas Eve. So on Christmas Day I started playing Santa Claus myself.
I would get up early on Christmas morning, sneak into our kitchen (unbeknownst to my parents), grab some grocery bags and fill them partially with cans and boxes of food. After putting on my coat, gloves and stocking hat, I gathered my bag of goodies and quietly sidled out the back door, trying not to wake my sleeping parents.
There were a lot of poor folks who lived within a block or two of our home. My father was a factory worker, and although we were as poor as our neighbors, I wanted to share what we had. So before people awoke, I went from door to door and left a bag on each front porch on cold Christmas mornings. One Christmas morning when my mother awoke and realized what I had done, she got quite upset because we were poor folks, too, and didn't have extra food to spare. But my Christmas sharing had been done from whatever kindness lurked within my little heart.
I grew up and left Peoria for a college education, served as an Army officer during the Vietnam conflict and then went to law school. Although the magic of Christmas had faded by then, it began to resurface when I married and kicked back into full gear when I became a father--eventually to five children.
With children, the joy of Christmas can at times be amazing. Some people object to Christmas, either because of its pagan origins or its modern materialism, but for kids it is--and should be--a special time.
Our Christmases were always geared to the children and spreading the magic. But they've grown up now, and my wife and I have been refocusing our energies toward those less fortunate than ourselves.
One way we've found to spread a little joy is by collecting toys at our annual Christmas party at our home. Each family brings a new, unwrapped toy, which is donated to our local homeless shelter. And this year we found out that we could "adopt" a family for Christmas. Our "family"--a father, mother and two little girls--was recently burned out of their house and lost everything except their home's frame. Although we're not able to give them everything they need to start over, we're doing all we can and even asking people we know to contribute what they can.
It's devastating to think about losing everything you've worked and sacrificed for, especially the items that can never be replaced--like pictures, baby books, special school papers, all those little mementos that meant so much because of the love of the person who gave them to you.
But it seems that Christmas is a time when want is especially felt. That's why each and every one of us should share what we've been blessed with--not cast-offs, things we no longer need, but new toys and clothes that we would want for our own families.
Christmas is a time of giving, even when it hurts--that is, sacrificial giving to those in need. This means that we should all be Santa Claus and help make the world a better place for everyone.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
Publication Guidelines / Reprint Permission
John W. Whitehead’s weekly commentaries are available for publication to newspapers and web publications at no charge. Please contact staff@rutherford.org to obtain reprint permission.
