Lisbon today was an enchanted town. I was out with Portuguese and Canadian friends joining hundreds of people in the streets and sharing the joy of true Christmas. Each one of us was a Christmas tree. A friend of mine had this creative idea to save the money we cannot afford on Christmas tree lights – each person carried a widget light- each person was a Christmas tree. Somehow, that made us all enjoy the holiday with a different mind and a sharing heart.
Would you like to share your thoughts about being a Christmas tree?
This was not about religion, this was a one day event that symbolized what we will not have for Christmas due to extreme difficult economical conditions in Portugal and the beauty was that for one day people managed to come out of their own problems and realize what solidarity means. That was magic.
It was beautiful; it has been a long time since I witnessed people shaking hands and actually talking to strangers, enjoying the moment. –there were so many in the streets!
I still have my “Christmas tree”, by my side now just a little sparkle, but how nice to remember! There is a donation to “Banco da Fome” (Bank for the hungry), a big charity that all Portuguese donate to each month with groceries that will feed families, and charities all over the country. Each end of the month volunteers stand in all supermarkets with plastic bags for each person to buy separate groceries and give the volunteers when checking out. All Portuguese contribute that way and the big donation of this idea was for that charity because thousands of people depend on that to eat each new day.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and may you have a Merry Christmas.
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