Christmas ... and the Sally Army band played on

'Twas the Saturday before Christmas, and the Salvation Army band was blowing up a treat on the streets of Hampstead. The sound is instant nostalgia, coursing back through a stream of Christmases, nothing changed, the same carols in old arrangements, ladies and gentlemen of the same advancing ages in their black army uniforms with red trim, waving collecting tins.
First effect of the music ... some tiding of comfort and joy. Second effect ... I looked the other way and passed by the smiling lady and her tin. Third effect ... I stepped back, dropped in a pound, received a smile, felt a warm glow.
The hesitation stemmed from an occasion blogged five years ago ... in the old 'This Writing Life' section of my website. I sat through a Salvation Army Christmas Concert, but was hurt by that organization's lead among charities in the United States, seeking an exception to laws that banned them from excluding gay members. A Sally Army member wrote to me, upset by the blog, pointing out the work the 'Army' does in the battle against Aids. I didn't write back. I'd made my point, he'd made his. Why argue? We weren't going to change.
I'm sure, in fact, the Sally Army folk are good people, moved by faith and tradition to be out there doing their best for the world. It's curious to me how people can be driven towards regimentation by religious stirrings, odd to have ranks and uniforms, and unlikely that I share a world view with such people. But it takes all kinds to make a world ... and Hampstead was brightened at Christmas by their music.
Why did I step back though, really? I thought of my Mum, dead now for a few years. She loved Christmas, and the Salvation Army sound for her was a principle part of the tradition. What was not to like about the sound? Who's doing more good at Christmas, they with their shelters and food for the poor and music on the streets, me with my pc-driven 'I'm not giving' move as I managed the last of my Christmas shopping?
I dropped in my coin for Mum, for Christmas, for the wonder of joining in and being a part of things ... whatever your beliefs, Christmas strikes me now as a great time for being at peace, for letting go, for sharing.
Have a great and lovely holiday.

picture by Steve Tag