December is here with us again, a time we all spend time thinking about gifts. It got me thinking about whether I preferred to give or receive them. The obvious answer is to give, and I bet we were all told that as children. I doubt that most children would agree. To receive a much-wanted toy on Christmas morning is wonderful. I wondered when we lost this ability to ask for something and be grateful to receive it. It seems more difficult to ask for something as we get older. I am not talking about toys of course but of help, both materially and emotionally. By not asking are we depriving someone else of the joy of giving or are we stopping us being a burden to them? It’s a difficult question, but on asking around my friends they all jump at the chance to help. It can be as difficult to ask someone if they need help and risk the chance of being rebuffed. Jesus didn’t have a problem with people asking for help, usually healing for themselves or a family member. There are numerous examples of this in the bible. A couple of my favourite ones are when a young man was lowered through the roof of a house, on a stretcher, to be healed whilst Jesus was talking to a group of followers and a Canaanite woman who asked Jesus to heal her daughter and when he didn’t immediately say yes, she continued to beg him. If we think it is difficult for us to ask our friends and acquaintances for help how much harder that must have been, but the results were worth it. We need to bear that in mind and ask when we need help. What’s the worse thing that can happen? The person might say they can’t help at that time but can offer a suggestion. I must say that I have never been subjected to any nastiness when I have asked for help and although I have wonderful friends, I bet yours are every bit as wonderful.
This month’s book is another favourite of mine. “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak. This is a story of support of a young girl in Nazi Germany.
God Bless
Maureen Kendall