Thoughts during the holiday season

“Young people here don’t know how easy they have it. Why are they lazy, do drugs, etc.? They have no idea about how lucky they are.”

This comment was from a young Iranian female refugee I interviewed recently. She is so grateful that she, her husband and their two young sons have been given the opportunity to come to the United States.

She and her husband are taking advantage of the educational opportunities, attending American River College in Sacramento as well as working there.

She went on to tell me what it was like in Iran when she was growing up. Her family is Baha’i, a monotheistic religion founded in 19th-century Persia. With five million followers in 191 countries, it emphasizes the spiritual unity of all humankind. However, when a memorandum was approved by Iran’s supreme leader in 1991, thousands of Baha’is in Iran faced extreme persecution.

Each summer her mother had to search for a school for the girl to attend because many Iranian schools would not accept Baha’i students.

Her father lost his job and could find only menial ones. She saw a cousin and her husband jailed because of their religion as well as other family and friends executed.

Consequently, the Iranian government is happy to have Baha’is leave the country which meant this woman and her family were eventually able to come to the U.S. She finished our interview by commenting, “I am so happy, lucky to be here. Thank God.”

And we wonder why so many people from other countries want to come here. Perhaps we need to have these refugees speak to all our young people about alternatives to living here. Thanksgiving has recently passed. This is another reason to be grateful.

••• Here’s another note about what has happened to our country — one I’ve been concerned about since the arrival and acceptance of drugs in the late ’60s. It’s frightening to think at least half our adult population may take either legal or illegal drugs.

A friend in the Coachella Valley recently needed his propane tanks filled and went to a home improvement store. When he arrived no checkout stands were open. He went to the commercial checkout stand, saying he needed help. The person coming to his aid was the manager, who explained he had two women out on pregnancy leave and little help.

When my friend asked about hiring more people, the manager said, “I advertised recently for new hires. One hundred people applied. However, 95 of those did not pass the drug test and four failed the background checks. One person out of 100 and you ask why?”

Then he offered my friend, who is in his 70s, a job. What more can we say?

••• On a positive note, meet Michael Gale, a bright, industrious 12-year-old with a goal. When he was 3 years old he was staying with his grandmother Barbara Gale while his parents were out of town.

Suddenly, he ran a high fever and had seizures. Barbara immediately took him to the emergency room. After many tests, it was determined he had Type 1 Diabetes. Barbara tells me that this has not hindered Michael. He is one of the poster children for Childhood Diabetes, leads a normal life, and demonstrates to classmates illness has not stopped him. Once a year a march for Childhood Diabetes is held in his honor.

What a perfect example of overcoming.

••• Finally, I had to tell you about a book published in 1966 which seemed like I was reading present day news. Taylor Caldwell wrote “No One Hears But Him” as a sequel to “The Man Who Listens.”

Troubled strangers enter a sanctuary to tell their stories to The Man.

What is fascinating is the stories could be told by any citizen, anyone with whom we might come in contact. There’s the policeman who no longer is respected in his community, the teenage girl who has been given everything materially but nothing emotionally, the minister who has bowed to secular pressure for his ministry. The list goes on but you see what I’m talking about in the close connection between 1966 and now.

The book takes very human stories that could be in our present time and brings into focus the power of faith in a world that has put faith aside.

••• By the way, I wrote about friendship while away from home. The proper title of the “friendship” book is “The Transforming Friendship: A book About Jesus and Ourselves” by Leslie D. Weatherhead, published by Abingdon-Cokesbury Press.

No copyright date. Someone emailed me about how to find the book. Take time to relax and enjoy during this busy season!