He is a community leader and well known for his business acumen and generosity of spirit – but when we met to tour a homeless shelter in East Vancouver to assist in building more showers, he was shocked by what he saw.  Most of us would be.

If you have not personally encountered those who wander our streets or shelters: the vacant eyes and hopeless disorientation of those who have no home, enough food or proper medical care – a hundred articles and pictures will never do what a personal experience  will.

It is the age old discomfort of the Christmas season – a time to celebrate our blessings and share with loved ones – but our consciences would have to be numb not to be aware of the desperate lives of those less fortunate.

Elie Wiesel, the renowned author and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, who as a teenager was freed from the Buchenwald concentration camp (where 56,000 prisoners died), speaks to the conflict we feel at Christmas.
"The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference”

Our indifference increases as we become more isolated from those in the world that have desperate needs. I listened to a former prostitute share earlier this year and she quoted Rev. James Forbes: “Nobody gets into heaven without a letter of reference from the poor.” We get references from those we have worked for or know personally.

Last December I remember clearly making a list for our year-end giving, while keeping in mind the state of the economy and my own shrunken investments, I pared down our projected giving accordingly.  Then I made the mistake of going to a church where the minister said, “in times when many in the world have great need – we must limit our living and increase our giving.” This one sentence unnerved me and compelled us to significantly increase our giving!

If the birth of the babe of Bethlehem meant anything – it meant that the world had hope that things would change. WE are the agents of that change.  As John, one of the disciples of the babe (Jesus) said:
“We love because he first loved us….; for he who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.  And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother and sister also.”  1 John 4:19-21 (RSV)

Even the most secular humanist will agree that all of us are part of the human family. Thus indifference to the sufferings of our fellow human should be inconceivable.

This Christmas will any of us earn a reference from the poor?

Merry Christmas,

Tom Cooper

Upcoming Events: 
CIF Breakfast – Dec 3rd: 7:30am – 8:30am at the Vancouver Club (915 W Hastings St) Speaker: Judy Graves and Tom Cooper    
The Joy of Christmas – Dec 8th: 7 – 9pm at Autumn Brook Gallery
The Goal of My Life – Jan 8th: 11:45am at Italian Cultural Centre Speaker: Paul Henderson   
To register for these events or for more information please call 604-687-7292 or visit www.cityinfocus.ca