God rest you merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy
Now to the Lord sing praises, all you within this place
And with true love and brotherhood each other now embrace
This holy tide of Christmas all other doth deface
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy
The Shevet Achim volunteers took these lyrics to heart last Tuesday, as we all decided it was high time to put up a Christmas tree. The whole night was filled with examples of the words from the song: “with true love and brotherhood each other now embrace; this holy tide of Christmas all other doth deface.”
The dishes from dinner were washed and the food was put away with the sounds of eclectic Christmas carols playing in the background—from the jazzy tunes of Michael Buble to the rich vibratos of Josh Groban. Meanwhile, several of the women were putting the finishing touches on a large variety of Christmas cookies (because who wants to put up a Christmas tree without cookies?). From mint chocolate chip, raspberry shortbread thumbprints to sugar cookies with multi-colored frosting, the sugary delights put our community into a festive mood as we sang along to “Silent Night,” “Let it Snow,” “White Christmas,” or “Angels We Have Heard on High.”
A very special Kurdish helper even contributed to baking the sugar cookies earlier in the evening (Rozhgar loves baking cookies).
We dedicated our tree to the star which marked the birthplace of our Savior, and Jonathan graciously crowned it for us after the lights were put on.
Then we all took turns hanging ornaments on the tree, in-between cookie bites: a combination of huge pinecones we found in the park and strung with ribbon, and some sparkly bells and balls we found in the
Old
City
.
While all of this took place, our beloved Finnish volunteer, Mikaela, lay upstairs recovering from a serious virus that had kept her bedridden the previous week. But despite her sickness woes, it happened to be her 20th birthday, which was made more special by the fact that she was born in
Jerusalem
, and was celebrating this milestone in the same city. A still weak Mikaela agreed to come downstairs for a short time to watch a Christmas movie with us, and a birthday surprise serenade unbeknownst to her.
Then we all gathered on couches and chairs for the black and white, 1938, production of A Christmas Carol. It was a version of the classic tale that – through a few small changes in the script – emphasized the importance of faith. Many of us are familiar with the plotlines of Bob Cratchit being fired from his job, his family being cold, hungry and somewhat miserable on Christmas Eve, and Scrooge being taken to watch them by the Ghost of Christmas Present. However, in this version, Bob is sacked from his job, and with a determined look on his face spends every last coin he has on the choicest goose, the sweetest fruits, and many other delectables that overflow in his arms as he carries them home to his family. We discussed this idea in our morning meeting the next day, how counter-intuitive his reaction may be for us. Instead of choosing to wallow in his troubles and offer a meager and cold Christmas to his wife and children, Bob holds nothing back to give them an abundant Christmas filled with joy. His faith is tested by fire and proves worthy when on Christmas morning a repentant and transformed Scrooge gives him his job back plus a raise.
And I can’t help but really soak in how incredible it is to celebrate the birth of Jesus when we live so close to
Bethlehem
…
Today in the town of
David
a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to
Bethlehem
and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ (Luke 2:11-15)
We wish you a merry Christmas! We wish you a merry Christmas! We wish you a merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!
Category:
Community Blog: Shevet Voices