A Birthday Party For Jesus
One of our City House volunteers called in with this story. She chose to meet on Christmas Eve with the men’s spirituality group she and the guys co-lead in a residential chemical dependency program. The men celebrating this evening either had no families or chose not to go home because of their need to avoid family gatherings where alcohol and drug use might be commonplace.
The volunteer had requested the previous week that the guys come with a birthday present for Jesus. We always get concerned at City House when things get too explicitly Christian, because we want all participants to feel included regardless of their faith tradition or spirituality. In this group, everyone was a professed Christian, but one who was Muslim, and he was comfortable with celebrating Christmas with the other guys.
They started off with a birthday cake for Jesus. Then, sitting in their circle, they were asked about their present. The first guy responded, “I didn’t really come up with anything. I am a thug. I hardly think that Jesus wants a present from me.” The volunteer and the guys in the group reassured him that wasn’t true and asked him to think of something by the time everyone in the group had responded.
The other guys in the group took their turns. There was a lot of conversation about forgiveness, of themselves and others. One man talked about his life long habit of self loathing, and that we was going to learn to love himself this year. When everyone had had their turn, it came back to the first guy that had talked. He had tears in his eyes as he said, “I guess I will have to forgive my wife.”
It was a sacred moment and time on a lonely Christmas Eve.
