history – Hope's Cafe

Two Cups of Tea at Hope’s Cafe

We live not far from Smoky Mountain National Park, the most visited national park in the United States .Nestled midst the thriving tourist sites of Gatlinburg and Dollywood is the village of Townsend, TN, billed as “The Peaceful Side of the Smokies,” for its much smaller area, quieter tempo and peaceful atmosphere. Its corollary in this holiday season would be “The Peaceful Side” of Christmas, otherwise known as Christmastide, the Twelve Days of Christmas beginning December 25 through January 5.

The weeks leading up to Christmas day are often characterized by hurrying and scurrying to prepare for Christmas celebrations. Christmastide is something of a “second chance,” an opportunity to reclaim the meaning of the season, to behave in accordance with that meaning.

Long intrigued with Boxing Day, December 26, also known as St Stephen’s Day, I thought it was a day for visiting friends and neighbors with baked goods or other gifts. Apparently it indeed has evolved where Boxing Day is another aspect of the festivities. However, Boxing Day in Britain began as an act of offering a “Christmas box,” presents or gratuities, to tradespeople and employees. An earlier tradition in Britain involved the wealthy allowing their servants off work to visit their families on the day after Christmas.

The concept of Boxing Day would seem to have originated from late Roman and early Christian eras when alms boxes were placed in the narthex of churches to collect offerings tied to the Feast of St. Stephen. The later European tradition of giving money or gifts to those in need dates to the Middle Ages.

Perhaps at our core we recognize our responsibility to one another. Admittedly, we too readily return to the busy routines of our daily lives. But if we can think of Christmastide, these twelve days, as a time to unwind from all the hubbub, maybe we can take some moments to breathe deeply, take stock and reorder our priorities. Maybe we can begin to incorporate Charles Dickens’ intention into our awareness and our behavior: “I will honour Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.”

The invitation is open to share two cups of tea anytime at Hope’s Café or anywhere you share companionship and conversation.

May we bearers of hope, the “wait staff” at Hope’s Café, for each other and all those we encounter. Shalom, Kate

The word “orphan” took up residence in my awareness recently. I think the loss by someone I knew of their last living parent may have triggered this. I recall when my father died the year following my mother’s death, feeling the impact of being “orphaned,” a sense that even as a 60-year-old was difficult. My quilting friend Mary had a post last week about “orphan” blocks, bringing the word to the fore again. I am recalling as I type this that I also heard a report recently about the devastating number of children aged five and under who have been orphaned by the war in Gaza. Statistics from December indicated 24,000 to 25,000 Palestinian children had been orphaned in the current war. Another 17,000 children in the Gaza strip are estimated to be unaccompanied or separated from their parents. It would seem almost certainly that some Israeli children are now orphaned but I did not find such information readily available. Not as recently, but adding to the numbers of orphaned children, are the aftereffects of the pandemic, where about 200,000 children lost parents or other caregivers. Those are some of the reasons the term “orphan,” more commonly known now as Children Awaiting Parents, came to mind.

My first job out of graduate school was at a Methodist children’s home. I was aware of no orphans in the classic sense, that is, children who have lost both parents to death. There were plenty of children from single parent homes, where the parent, due to whatever circumstances, could no longer carry the responsibility. Grandparents who had taken on childrearing when their adult children were dysfunctional or otherwise unavailable, sometimes utilized the Children’s Home when they themselves could no longer carry the load. My husband and I both grew up with parents who took children in. We took foster children ourselves and we both worked with children in our therapy practices over the years. This is a subject close to my heart, and therefore quite troubling to me that there are many more children needing homes than there are available people to offer them.

There are in this country about 4.5 million people who are adopted, about 7% of the population. Many adoption agencies are busy matching available children with parents. Various programs and resources are available, perhaps one of the better known, The Dave Thomas Foundation, associated with Wendy’s restaurant.

As an adult I learned that two girls in my grade school class were adopted. However, they blended in seamlessly enough that I don’t recall anyone ever making an issue of it or considering them any different. Thus, I hope as an adopted grandchild appears to be on the horizon for us, I pray that she will come to feel as significant a part of the family as any other member. (And likely THAT is the primary reason that the word “orphan” has been on my mind 😊).

May we be bearers of hope, the “wait staff” of Hope’s Café for each other and all those we encounter. Shalom, Kate

Hope’s Café Bonus: “The work goes on. The cause endures. The hope still lives. And our dreams never die.”—Edward Kennedy from OrphanQuotes.QuotesGram