Holiday Spirit

As an atheist, the "holidays" always present a bit of a conundrum for me (my real holidays are New Year's Day and the Super Bowl). I don't want to be all bah-humbug or a hypocrite. So, my primary goal during the season is to teach the HB about sharing what we have with those less fortunate than us.

In the past, we've put meals together with One-Voice. This year, we had the opportunity to give food and presents to the families and interact with him. Like in most big cities, the geographic distance between those who have and those who don't is not great. All of the families we met were either African-American or Hispanic, or both. To qualify, the family had to have kids enrolled in a Head Start program.

I didn't see any family with only one child and there were several where the mom was pregnant. Why a woman who can't provide for the child/children she has doesn't take the steps to prevent having another one is beyond me. Almost everyone we interacted with was very appreciative, except for a few who were too busy talking on their cell phones.

Regardless, I don't think that the lesson of taking the HB (or the NZS who also joined us) is that there are poor people in LA. When I asked the HB what we learned, he said that a) a few people working together could make things better for a lot of people and b) it's important that we share what we have with others.

I don't think you need a dude on a cross or a "miracle" of lights to understand that.