Long Nights

One of my best friends has about 15 years of sobriety in. He told me something about Christmas that really struck a chord in me. Christmas was on a Wednesday, a day he usually chairs an AA meeting. He mentioned that he was still going to chair the evening meeting, even though it was Christmas, because someone may be coming in needing help. It's a bad time of year he says.

I can agree to that. I have found that Christmas-New Year's Eve is a good time to do evangelism. The Christmas-New Year's season reminds people about the past year and the New Year. And for folks who have had a hard year, remembrance is a bad thing. And if there is no hope that the New Year will be any better... I remember a terribly sad evening, visiting a young man in jail. As I was coming out, I noticed that his mother was there, but she was being booked... she had come to visit him, but she had come in drunk. I could not imagine the sadness in that moment.

We have so many opportunities to speak to people. Some times if we speak to them, it is a word in season, something that can bring hope and joy. I wonder if we can think of ourselves the same way my friend thinks of AA, being ready with the word of peace in Jesus' name.