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Student Union
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Teens should seek out
ways to make holidays
happy for someone elseWhat are you doing this Christmas season?
As we look around, we see busy people filling malls, causing traffic jams, baking gingerbread men, stringing homes with lights and writing holiday letters.
But look again! For many citizens, this cheerful season will scarcely be a diversion from the hopelessness that fills their lives, and only a painful reminder of what they lack. As I look around, I'm haunted by the fact that, while I can gorge myself on candy canes, children are starving. While I buy frivolous gifts for my friends, others around me lack life's basic necessities.
Sadly, everywhere I look, I also see signs of Scrooge and "bah-humbug" people. Those cutting off others in the mad shopping rush, yelling out of car windows as obscene gestures fill the air.
To me, the saddest display of scroogeness is when people simply walk by those "Santa's helpers" who jiggle the bells, hoping the money will fall into the bucket. What is only surplus change to many of us could provide life's sustenance to others.
As teenagers living in an affluent society, have we lost the spirit of Christmas behind the glitter? How many times do we truly stop and think of others instead of ourselves? The holidays should be a signal to do something special for someone else. After all, Christmas started with the greatest gift of all -- God's gift of his son for the world.
Whether we are Christians, Buddhists, or visitors from Mars, we can all appreciate God's concern for human beings. In this spirit of the season, I find myself very grateful for all those things I usually take for granted -- good health, a safe home, food, clothing, friends and a loving family. I also find myself being reminded that this is an excellent time of year to really do something selfless for others.
How can teenagers help? Simple answers abound in our everyday lives. Instead of buying that last video game on the shelf, we can make a donation to a worthy cause in our friends' names. We can use programs like Angel Tree to select a gift for a needy child. Many schools have community service projects we can join.
We can visit homeless shelters and help serve food at one of them. Many Web sites allow people to give gifts to a needy family, so we can always extend our reach. Most of all, teens can look at the world through the eyes of compassion, be observant to those around them, and act on what they see.
Giving to someone else brings a joy greater than that of opening that present we've been coveting for months. Giving to others brings peace and hope to the world. Lastly, giving brings the real meaning of Christmas into our hearts and homes.
So, this year, don't just sit around and dream of the sugarplums. We teens must get out there and make dreams come true for someone else.
Renee Firing is a sophomore at Sacred Hearts Academy.
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Student Union is a forum for Hawaii's teenagers to tell the community what's on their minds and in their hearts. It appears every Thursday, starting today. We welcome opinions of no more than 700 words on any topic. Please include your name, address and phone number. E-mail to letters@starbulletin.com, fax to 529-4750 or mail to Student Union, Editorial Page, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu, HI 96813. For more information, contact Jeff Finney at 529-4735 or jfinney@starbulletin.com.
