Making the Most of Christmas

It has become a tradition in my household that on Christmas Day, I help with my partner's Temple and serve Christmas Dinner to the homeless at Tallahassee's Shelter. We've been doing this mitzvah with Temple Israel for six years... and during those times of separation from my own faith community, I looked forward to this day of service as a means of practicing my Christianity, even if I had no place to call my church "home".

Even with my return to church, I can not think of a more fitting way for me to spend the day we celebrate the birth of Christ than to do the work that he has prepared for us to do: to love and serve those who find themselves out on the street... much in the same way Jesus wandered from place to place with no permanent home during his earthly ministry.

Temple Israel does this mitzvah as a routine on the fifth Sunday of the month. But the Christmas dinner is really special because it is truly a feast: turkey, dressing, corn bread, green bean casserole, salad, sweet potatoes, and dessert. People either make the food themselves at home, or some donate money if others will shop and prepare. Still others volunteer themselves (and their teenagers) to help serve. I remember the first time we volunteered to help, there was this elderly couple who kept talking about how the Jews volunteered to do Christmas dinner, so that Christians could have a break and enjoy their holiday.

"That's crap!" I thought. I was surprised that a church WASN'T serving the homeless on Christmas. Then it happened one year that Trinity United Methodist Church DID sign up to serve Christmas lunch and dinner, and Temple Israel was forced to put all its turkey and fixings in the freezers until the fifth Sunday... which was New Year's Eve. There were some who were upset about it, and wondered where this church got off taking their mitzvah day. I remember smiling and saying, "What a terrible thing to have happen. Too much food for the homeless."

When I first started helping my partner with this, we would serve approximately 185 men, women and children. Tonight, it was about 250, and of that number, about 40 of them were people who will remain sleeping on the street tonight because the Shelter is so full. Even today, there is still no room at the inn.

I actually wish more Christians would participate in this mitzvah, especially on Christmas. As much as we sing "O come let us adore him", we need to remember that "adoring" Christ can not be a passive act of cooing at the babe in the manger. It has to translate into the action of loving, or we are missing the point.

So, that's how I spent my Christmas. And then we had a great meal with friends who kindly let us sit after we'd been standing and doing food prepping and serving for six hours. It was a good night... with good food... good cheer... and good deeds that were done. Merry Christmas, and Shabbat Shalom, y'all.