the layers of Christmas in Walnut

We’ve already been layering up quite a bit for some weeks this winter.  Sweatshirts, coats, scarves, hats, mittens came out early in November here in the Midwest.  Christmas in Walnut has a bunch of layers too.  There are some layers regarding why we do it and what happens through it.

First layer:  Link Christian Community Development (formed from our partnership with Orchard Hill, Harvest, and Walnut Neighborhood) believes in listening to the community and learning about their felt needs.  One of the felt needs each year at Christmastime is that there are some who express a need for assistance to be able to give gifts to their family members.  We also have people in our community who want to give back and who want to share their resources to meet that need.  One layer of Christmas in Walnut is that it helps us to bring need and resource together in a way of helping that allows everybody to get in the game.

Another layer is that our partnership, which is based in Christian Community Development principles, looks for ways to move beyond charity to a development model.  We hope that one day, there is so much development going on with individuals and in community that parents will begin to say, "I don't need a ticket this year to the Christmas Store."  That's the dream.  Until that happens, though, we believe parents should have the opportunity to shop for their own children and pay something for the gifts (we sell gifts for $2 and $5...about 75% off retail price.)  We also believe those who shop at the store should be given an opportunity to volunteer in the day if they'd like.  Christmas in Walnut is meant to develop community and capacity ultimately so we might become a different kind of community moving forward. 

Another layer of Christmas in Walnut helps us teach the next generation about the blessing of giving.  I can tell you lots of stories here.  A few weeks ago, I watched our older generation spend a day preparing crafts so that on Saturday, children from our community can make, wrap, and give Christmas presents to their families and experience  the joy of giving.  I’ve been listening to how parents and grandparents have been taking their young ones shopping for the purpose of choosing a great toy and then learning to give that toy away.  I’ve seen how our teenagers have given over 300 toys toward the store.  And I’ve heard stories of sacrificial giving, as a college student gave a hundred dollar bill, and one family this year emailed to say that of the three gifts they usually give each child in their family, this year, the whole family decided that the children will receive two, and the third gift is being given to Christmas in Walnut.  

Another important layer of Christmas in Walnut is the chance for the people of Christ to be His light and to testify with our presence and our presents to the Good News of this Redeemer that we celebrate at Christmas.   As the Word became flesh in Jesus, we also are present in the flesh to be His love, His joy, His peace, His hope throughout the morning, in word and in deed. 

Another layer of Christmas in Walnut is that it helps to strengthen our relationships and partnerships. It’s so great to be in the neighborhood with neighbors, Harvest, Boys n’ Girls Club, First Presbyterian, House of Hope, and we’re grateful for our relationship with a couple of elementary schools, Cunningham and this year Irving.  We’re thankful that the work we’re doing in the neighborhood is supported by local businesses such as Visual Logic Toys R Us, Walgreens, Target, and many and others.  We believe Christmas in Walnut is just one way that we hope to continue to link arms to encourage one another and strengthen a neighborhood. 

And finally, I would be remiss if I did not directly mention the deepest layer of Christmas in Walnut. It's another felt need and it is rising up in the cry among millions of our brothers and sisters across our country and the world for justice.  It lies close to the heart of God and it painfully reminds us that things are not as things should be.  There have been –ism’s- racism, classism, sexism- that have kept us separate in this world and that keep us from knowing, and understanding, and loving each other.  Christmas in Walnut, maybe in a very small way, but a critical way, brings us together as people so that we might see the humanity in one another, so that we might recognize the image of God in every person that is present, so that we might stand side by side and care and share together for a morning.  And when we begin to do that, we become about a new ism- Grace-ism, born out of a God who extended His grace to us through His Son who was born, lived, died, and was raised again so that we might, through Jesus, extend His grace and blessing in a broken world.