Bramblings: Hope

Photo by Becky Nelson
Christmas is just a week away.

When the kids were young, we usually headed out for a Christmas Eve service at church, coming home for a late dinner and getting the kids to bed for a night full of anticipation dreams. Like many families, the buildup to Christmas presents was one that overwhelmed the couple of weeks before the day. Unlike most families, the workload for those couple of weeks was also overwhelming as we struggled to keep the store stocked and staffed, wreaths made and trees tied on cars as we tried to pay attention to our faith and family at the same time.

Now that we are empty nesters and have been fortunate to find excellent and reliable staff to help cover the bases, the season seems a bit less chaotic.

Well, maybe.

We still haven’t put up a tree in our own home, and I just put a wreath on the door yesterday. I do have my shopping done, but that, too, is easier as we just shower gifts on grandkids with little remembrance gifts for our adult kiddos. I did put some lights in the windows just after Thanksgiving, but even that was interrupted and I have another couple of windows to dress. I hope to put my tree up before the Saturday storm, but that is a wait and see proposition to see how busy my day becomes when the store doors are opened up for business.

I feel for all folks working in retail this season. As I have written before, these folks work long and hard hours to make the Christmas season a delight for their customers, and it can lead to strained relationships and strained timelines in their own homes. This year is particularly hard, as we see surges of the dreaded coronavirus popping up and spreading quickly across the nation and our neighborhoods.

The folks working in health care really need our support this season. Burnout after what seems an eternity of struggling with very, very sick people is taking a toll on those we rely on most to keep us safe and alive. Life seems particularly fragile of late, and I am hoping that those putting all their efforts into secular and expensive Christmas seasons will instead take a moment to look at the meaning of the season and pull back on the anxieties caused by getting the right toy and the right electronic response on this most holy of Christian days.

I have always lived my life knowing “you can’t take it with you,” and this seems more clear than ever this season. Death tolls due to natural disasters, school shootings, turmoil all over the planet and yes, in our hospitals, homes and nursing homes, are having a great impact on my psyche. I am more acutely aware of the fragility of life than I ever was, and more aware of how the unreal cyber-world is affecting our youth, ourselves, and the very soul of humanity with unreal stories, meaningless expectations and belief in something that is no more stable than a house of cards.

I found an amazing bird nest in a Christmas tree that we recently cut. The intricate weaving of grasses to form a frame, the amazing beauty of the bowl formed in the center with what must have been hundreds of trips to the nest with mud that was expertly crafted into a home for a clutch of eggs and batch of birdlings simply amazed me. All that work for a temporary home in an uncertain world. I also noted the weather destruction of a large hornet nest I have been admiring that is in a young maple tree near the sugarhouse. The rain, wind, snow, ice and all kinds of atmospheric forces is tearing the amazing house apart. The process that insects used to make this very temporary palace is fantastic and almost magical. To see it torn apart and disintegrating is a bit disheartening, but then again a sign of hope. The birds will rebuild. The insects will rebuild. The amazing circle of life will continue.

It may seem odd to find hope in destruction, but as we see with the survivors of the recent devastating tornadoes in our heartland, the flooding in our south, the fires in our west — there is hope. There is a chance to make changes to our lives that lead to a better world and maybe even a better nest. Our offspring are empowered to go out and make nests of their own and continue the legacies we have built. We are fighting hard. We need to find that determination buried deep within each and every one of us to see the hope for the next nest, the next day, the real world. We need to support one another, help one another, care about one another and try to relieve those who are struggling. We are alive, and there is always hope for tomorrow. That is the greatest gift we can give each other this Christmas: Hope.

Becky Nelson is co-owner of Beaver Pond Farm in Newport. You may reach her at [email protected].