Bedlam Farm Blog Journal by Jon Katz

Christmas is about doing and cherishing good, not scrambling for low prices for computers, smartphones, and TVs. On Monday, we have decided to do some tangible good. Talk is cheap. Actions speak loudly. Christmas is not, at least for me, about more profits and greed.

We’ve signed up to help the good people of the Cambridge Community Christmas Dinner distribute food and make Christmas something of true meaning for us and brighter for families in need. Selfishly, it will help us feel meaningful and hopeful in a troubled world.

I’ve written several times that the best way to feel good about life is to do good and remind ourselves how uplifting and healing that can be. I’ve learned that at the Mansion and while dealing with refugee children who are traumatized and in need.

I’m not a Christian, but I respect and appreciate the holiday’s true significance, often overwhelmed by profit.

I’m a lifetime admirer of the teachings of Jesus Christ, whose whole life stood for mercy and compassion-  my family always celebrated Christmas in spirit, even though I was born Jewish.

Jesus pleaded with his followers to love and care for the poor and vulnerable. It was an idea that changed the world but still struggles to be heard. His message is being drowned out by hatred and grievance.

We worship money, profit margins, and bargains in America, not compassion and empathy. This is something anyone can do, and it can change lives. It is what the spiritual life is really about, regardless of politics.

As I’ve written a hundred times, it feels better to do good than to argue about what good is. For me, that has been the best medicine I’ve ever taken.

Much of the world is at war and is divided. It’s hard to feel good or safe.

My blog, my wife, our farm, and my blog help ground me, but it is sometimes difficult to feel straightforward about what is happening to my country and the world.

The impulse to do good – to ease suffering –  does not belong to the left or the right or any partisan entity.

It is a universal impulse embedded in every human being and suggests the very best of being a human being. It is the height of humanity. Doing good is a natural human condition; rage and cruelty are aberrations, violating what it means to be human.

That is the very idea of almost every idea of God.

Maria and I have found an answer for us this Christmas, something we think about yearly.

We are bringing food to five families that need help celebrating this Christmas. They are struggling to afford food and celebrate Christmas. We’ll bring them each a good hot meal. Every year, we ask what Christmas means. This year, we won’t have to ask.

I woke up feeling low this morning. Sometimes, I wake up at night and think empathy is fading away. My flower photos are all about that, in a way.

Some days, the anger and rage splitting the country get me down. Almost anyone reading this knows that feeling.

The blog is a source of comfort, color, and safety. But it can’t work miracles. To be truly fulfilled, I have learned that I need to step out of myself and try to lift the lives of others. That is a meaningful reason to be on the earth and to have a blog that tries to do good.

For much of my life, I’ve suffered from a mental illness – acute anxiety and panic. I am much better. The idea of doing good when I was failing helped to save me and put me on a path to recovery. It did pull me out of myself and up to a better place.

I believe doing good has saved my soul, along with love, and Christmas is the only holiday we have that celebrates being good to others. It’s not about sales on iPads; it’s about being human with compassion. Maria and I are excited to be doing this together.

Several weeks ago, we agreed to volunteer for a community group offering free meals to people who needed help celebrating Christmas in comfort and dignity. We didn’t hear back.

We didn’t hear from the community food group until this afternoon. We were on the waiting list, but other volunteers had to drop out.

We were asked if we still wanted to help – they needed help –  and said yes immediately. We didn’t need to think about it. Maria lit up like a Christmas and couldn’t say yes fast enough. “Thanks for asking us,” she said.

On Christmas morning, we’re going to the local American Legion building to pick up 17 meals prepared by cooks and volunteers distributed among five families in and around our small town- 17 different meals.

I believe it is impossible to lead a fulfilling life without faith, and it need not only be religious faith. Faith also comes from inside us; we don’t need temples or cathedrals to do good.

These civic and community food programs exist all over the country.

Think how good we could feel about our country if tens of millions of Americans brought food on Christmas to the tens of millions who need help feeding their families.

I don’t tell others what to do; I only write about what I do.

Now, I feel the joy about Christmas that the day deserves and that Christ and many others are owed.

. I know what it’s about for me.