“Oh Christmas Twig.”

Written by Mike Lank, Jesuit Volunteer 2015-2016

The holidays are often focused around connection and a sense of belonging. A little extra time with our families. Making that phone call we haven’t gotten around to. Unfortunately, the holidays can also lead to feeling of disconnect and overwhelm. Having recently moved halfway across the country from friends and family, I felt rush acutely this year.

One of the bright moments of the holiday season was when one of the regulars came in one morning singing Christmas music under his breath. He came in right at the morning rush and I didn’t have a chance to hear him clearly the first time around. I simply noticed he was in high spirits and really gave off positive energy to the space.

A little later when the center had quieted down, Tim came up to the sign in desk singing his own take on a classic “Oh, Christmas Twig.”  He, then, started showing me the decorating that he and some others under the bridge had done. Someone had found a spindly, three foot branch from a Christmas tree and brought it to the camp. All of a sudden, there is a communal effort to put together a little tree. Someone else finds a big gift box that is made into the tree stand. The beads and light-up necklaces that abound in this city spring forth onto this tree.

“It’s a turning into a regular, old Charlie Brown Christmas tree!” he said. The one thing he thought they needed was a single, big ornament; this way it would flop over just like in the movie. He asked me if I knew where he could get one and I didn’t. But the rest of the day this interaction stuck with me, so I poked around and managed to scrounge one up. When he came back at the end of the day, I had it ready for him. Out of all the things we provided that day, I think that one ornament went the furthest in building a sense of community and belonging.