A SHORT STORY: THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE - ACCEPTANCE

Acceptance is relevant to co-existence when done with love, understanding and not just out of the fakeness of obligation through law.  Around this time of year, Christmas, I am always reminded of the story of Jesus and the Roman Centurion that came to ask Jesus to heal his servant, found in Luke 7:2, as Jesus admonished his people for not having the faith that was shown by this 'outsider'.


With the first election of a black president in the United States, I irrationally thought that things would change here in the US of A, however, things did not progress in the manner I had hoped for, yet, still I have hope that one day it will if people would only realize we are more alike than we are different - something to think about as you go about your day.



THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE - ACCEPTANCE

It was snowing outside, more like a blizzard than the soft gentle fall of yesterday’s snow.  As I watched the wind whip the snowflakes, with ferocious force, around my backyard, I thought of my parents.  Over the last seven years, since I married the white boy, as they like to call him, they have refused to take part in any holiday/family gatherings, meaning this would be one more Christmas without them around.

Though they have not just outright disowned me, the only time I really saw them was when I could manage to see them by stopping by their house; this, for them, was preferably, without Lucas my husband.  I never really knew the depth of the feelings they had towards white people until I got involved with Lucas.

They would tell me things like “a white man will never show a black man true respect – that man don’t respect you he just tryin’ to see what the black experience is all about” or they would ask “why you wanna be with a white man when there are so many good black men out here?”  I had no choice in the matter, I feel in love.

Lucas had me the first time he said hello.  He had beautiful emerald green eyes, dark, wavy hair, hard body and some class about his style of dress and personality!  No sagging pants, no foul mouth, no hard core rap attitude, he was just a down to earth, kindhearted person.  I would have never thought I would end up with someone like Lucas and we are very happy together. 

We have two beautiful daughters that adore their father yet, my parents have been acting like this for all of the seven years we have been married.  They love their grandbabies unconditionally, but refuse to be around the person that helped create them. 

Well, I will just have to pretend that it’s no big deal for the seventh time.  Christmas was always a family time before I married Lucas.  I was an only child born to late in life parents.  Lucas was the baby in his family, with two sisters and one brother, all living in other states. 

Now, his parents come over for Christmas dinner every year, but my parents never come and never invite us over to their house; oh well, no time to think of this now, I have so much to do before my in-laws arrive.

When I reached the kitchen, Lucas was already there.  He had volunteered to cook the turkey and dressing and appointed me the side dishes and the baking.  That was Lucas, always planning and trying to delegate, but always wanting to do it as a team.  Lucas was my family now and I wish my parents could accept that and accept Lucas too.

We laughed, we cooked, the kids came in and had breakfast and we laughed some more, all of us together.  Afterwards, the kids left to watch their holiday dvd’s and Lucas and I continued preparing dinner. 

We had invited Jan, a woman from my job who had introduced Lucas and me, and her husband Charles, for dinner this Christmas.  They are an interracial couple also only she is white and her husband is black.  They have been married for twelve years and are very good together.  They have two daughters, the oldest one only three years older than my oldest daughter.

As I was setting the table, Jan and Charles arrived with their two daughters.  After taking their coats, settling the kids in the living room with my kids to watch the movie and leading the adults into the kitchen where me and Lucas where trying to put the finishing touches on the meal, Jan asked me if my parents had decided to come.  I said, “No, they are still boycotting my husband”.  She laughed and said “They will come around, eventually; it took Charlie’s family longer than it took my family to come around - and you guys call us the racist ones!!  We all laughed with her – how ironically true her statement was.

My in-laws had arrived and after all the happy feelings and love between them and my children was experienced, we sat down to eat, my heart was a little heavy because I was missing my parents, but we all grabbed hands to pray and I tried to put myself in the moment of prayer.  It is our tradition to hold hands and pray.  After the prayer, we each say one thing that we are thankful for.

I was the last one to share and just as it was my turn to share what I was thankful for, the doorbell rang.  We all looked around the table as if to say, who could be ringing the door bell now everybody that should be here is here.  I laughed at the thought and excused myself to answer the door.

Still laughing to myself at the shock on everybody’s face when the door bell rang, I swung open the door and to my total surprise, my parents stood there smiling at me.  I froze. We looked at each other and they stepped forward to hug me.  I hugged them back with all the love I felt for them at that moment. 

I invited them in, took their coats and seated them at the table.  After all the love and happy feelings were shared with the kids, we picked up where we left off and I was up to share why I was thankful.  Naturally, I was thankful that my parents were able to make it to dinner on this wintery, Christmas day and this is what I verbalized.

Finally it was my father’s turn to share what he was thankful for.  Without hesitation, as though he had waited too long for his time to share, he said, “I’m thankful that I am a living witness to the first black elected president of The United States of America.  I never thought this day would come, not in my life time, not ever.  I guess maybe finally white people have started seeing blacks as relevant human beings – Thank you Jesus!" 

With that we all said a rousing amen, while laughing at the emphasis my father had used.  After that, Lucas passed my daddy the knife, allowing my daddy to carve up that Christmas turkey.

However, It took my five and a half year old daughter to ask the question that was on everybody’s mind – “grandpa why is this the first time you and grandma came to Christmas dinner?”

My father put the carving knife down, looked around the table at the mixture of people and said,

“How could I sit down to break bread in the way of Jesus with people who thought so little of me as a man?  Who held me in economic bondage for all of these years, who enslaved my forefathers, who disrespected me and my kind on a daily basis for as far back as I can remember?”  He continued,

“Mr. Barack Obama was elected by the people, both black and white people, as well as others.  They all voted for a black man to live in the “White House”.  History has been forever changed.  You remember this year in history baby, 2008.”

Daddy looked around the table again and as he did so, his eyes lit up and with a little bit of mischief in his voice he said, “Looking around at the faces at this table, if things keep moving in the direction they are moving with you young folks, it won’t be long before we are all black anyway or at least all mixed."  With that, all of the adults at the table, seemingly acting with one mind, reached for their glasses and laughing with the spontaneity of it, clicked glasses in a toast to my daddy’s words.

He continued though because he had been holding these words inside for too long so he said, “With the election of a black man for the highest office in the United States of America, I feel like maybe things will change, maybe our time has come, maybe Martin Luther Kings words have finally come true and a man is judged by the content of his character, rather than the color of his skin, so I wanted to be in on the change and what better way than to be sitting here at this table with all of you enjoying this wonderful, wintery Christmas day” and with that we all drank to the possibilities of a brighter day, even the kids drank their juice to the final words of my daddy not fully realizing the significance of his words.

This was the best Christmas ever.  My whole family was together.  All the people that I loved dearly were right there at my table enjoying the holiday and enjoying each other’s company, as it should have been all along.  I was so touched by the moment that tears started streaming down my face uncontrollably and while everybody was laughing, pointing at me and calling me a big baby, I was experiencing one of the happiest days of my life.

Written by:  Connie Jordan
           Year:  2008