CHRISTMAS
I have been busy with things
and I wonder -
funny time of year for you?
I see faces in the streets and the shops.
Strained faces.
Tense faces.
Frowning faces.
Few smiling faces.
I worked for many years in hostels.
Out of the 10 homes we have had,
including the one I was born in,
six have been in a residential/community context,
on the job including with people who were
offenders, homeless and rootless.
They are uncertain if there maybe a chance of
being somewhere else on Christmas day.
That uncertainty is worse
than the certainty of even 'no hope’.
The ones remaining in the Hostel on Christmas day
will be the ones without any another option
I have always struggled with
how to do something in a group-work context
which is a sensitive helpful life-sustaing challenge.
The context is restless humans.
The context is lack of concentration.
They don’t want to be there
- be anywhere
but there is better than being alone …..
I prepare as best I can & then deliver ……
but still have to 'busk it' like crazy.
Calmly of course!
You can read some of my Christmas Group-Work
described in a step by step method,
has triggered me to connect with memories of my Mother
who went through some tough times and yet
was wondrous and beautiful to the end.
All four sons were around the bed when she died.
I have good feelings about her death.
The other feelings ..............
I will say they were about 'emotional deprivation'.
Mine of course but also the people I recall.
I have more connections in my soul
which makes me feel Christmas more deeply.
They are a bit below the surface but the next few days
I could dig them out.
*
