Through a SoMinn LENS

Ken’s Christmas Trees sells trees, wreaths and more in Faribault. Enjoying cider while perusing holiday decor at Apple Creek Orchard.

Hope during the

holidays

Apple Creek Orchard features an assortment of wreaths and other holiday items. P eace. Hope. Goodwill. Those words thread through my thoughts this holiday season. I hope for peace and goodwill, even though sometimes elusive within our families, communities and world. Yet, there is reason to feel hopeful. I look around and I see people helping people. Efforts by churches, communities, businesses, individuals, nonprofits and more assure that basic needs are met, that no one feels alone, defeated, unable to manage, especially during the holidays. That is the good I see in December, the hope I feel. This year for me has been, admittedly, difficult with my mom’s death, my husband’s unexpected job loss and more. But I got through those challenging months. We all have something at one time or another that stretches us, that perhaps pushes us into crisis, that necessitates the gathering of our circle and beyond to uplift and assist us. Help comes in many forms, not only financial. Help comes in listening. Help comes in caring, understanding, encouraging.

Help comes in connecting. Help comes in serving. I see that in community dinners; in Christmas gifts, trees, clothing and food

A vintage PEACE tray from a southern Minnesota antique shop.

Hand knit scarves, available for anyone to take, hang from The Giving Tree outside the Northfield Public Library.

dispersed; in the awareness and acknowledgment that many are struggling in these trying economic times. We each have it within us to be there for others in meaningful and compassionate ways.

I see, this December, hope shining in lighted holiday parades, in festive decorations, in community events, in business open houses, in concerts, in charitable giving, in volunteering, in the all of caring for one another. In the joyful spirit of this season, I witness peace and goodwill spreading here in southern Minnesota as families gather, as neighbors help neighbors, as communities come together. Hope shines. 

An oversized festive gnome welcomes shoppers to Apple Creek Orchard, rural Faribault.

Diners gather in the basement of Fourth Avenue United Methodist Church in December 2019 for the annual free Community Christmas Dinner.

Fourth Avenue United Methodist Church, Faribault, served cupcakes at the annual Community Christmas Dinner in 2019.

Volunteers serve at the Fourth Avenue United Methodist Church Community Christmas Dinner in 2019 in the basement of the Faribault church. The dinner has been discontinued, replaced by fall community soup luncheons.