I had to make a trip to town. The minute I got out of the car, I heard the jingle of that bell that reminds me that the Salvation Army is set up by the main entry and it’s the Christmas season. I shuttered. I was a man with a mission that should take me in and out and home.

As I made my way with the hustling crowd and eyed the bell ringer up ahead, I noticed people walked by not showing him any recognition or greeting. They must have been people on a mission too. As I got closer, I noticed that the gentleman was in a wheel chair with a leg propped up on a pillow. He was warmly wrapped and bundled to face the frigid Minnesota north wind. As I walked by, he made eye contact, smiled, and wished me a Merry Christmas. Guilt exploded inside. I avoided him on the way out. I could not face myself a second time.

Several days later, while in town, I was again accosted by the bell as I made my way with another mission. It was a bitterly cold afternoon with the wind chill below zero. A little girl of the young family that was there, stopped what she was doing and wished me a Merry Christmas. That little voice and her red cheeks stopped me in my tracks, just like Wendy in the Grinch movie. She was so filled with the joy and excitement of a child in this season that I returned her greeting. When I left the store, the bundled family smiled and we exchanged the merry greeting. So cold, so ignored, yet so joyful.

These two encounters have haunted me since. I have seen many “bell ringers” over the years. Most of them, I regretfully have hurriedly passed with my mission, an excuse, too busy to stop, too cheap to drop cash. Had I become so callus to the plight of others that I had become an Ebenezer Scrooge?

Pope Benedict XVI spoke of Charles Dickens’ character as one who lost his emotional memory. He had lost the whole chain of feelings and thoughts he had acquired in the encounter with human suffering. So hurt and wounded by his own rejection and absence of love, he had allowed himself to be robed of his heart’s memory by the delusion of a false liberation through financial success and material affluence. With his memory dried up, the source of kindness had also disappeared. With no memory of goodness, hope was shut out of his life. He had become cold and did not spread the Christmas cheer. He was not merry nor did he wish to make others merry.

The bell ringers’ joy and good tidings awakened in me the most profound and basic emotional memory within; the memory of the God who became a child on a cold December morning. Of the God manifesting Himself through humanity. All it took was a smile and cheery “Merry Christmas!”

I have since smiled and wished other bell ringers a Merry Christmas as I make my contribution. In this simple act of kindness, the doors of hope were opened and joy came rushing in.

For Reflection:
Being on a “mission” can be good or could be problematic. How can being on a mission be harmful to me? What excuses do I tend to use to overlook opportunities to love and serve others? How have I robed my heart’s memory by the delusion of a false liberation through financial success and material affluence?

Prayer:
Dear Lord, may every bell I hear throughout the year be a reminder of my call as Your disciple to the love and service of others and not my own selfish missions, my successes and my affluence.
(blogged December 15, 2024)
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