Be Your Own Light in the World

By C. Bary Ingerson

December is a month of community. We gather, we party, we treat ourselves to special events, we shop, and we give gifts to one another. Some gifts are steeped in tradition, some are based on our love for friends and family. However, it is the smallest, least tangible gifts that are the most important. These are the gifts arising from kindness. They define us as nothing else can.

Anyone can give them, though December seems to remind us to do so. What sorts of gifts am I talking about?

Here are some examples: the gift of your patience with a slow clerk and a long line; the gift of biting back a sarcastic retort instead of lashing out; the gift of a helping hand to a fellow shopper who can’t reach the top shelf, even the gift of bringing your neighbor’s trash can up from the curb.

All of these intangible gifts are small acts of kindness and civility which help to make our less-than-perfect world a bit brighter for all of us attempting to navigate around its dark corners.

And many are in those dark corners — dealing with loss, illness, infirmity, loneliness, fiscal anxiety, and more. Despite the many bright commercial lights of the season, we may not see those dealing with the dark. However, if we practice small acts of kindness each day, we help ourselves as well as others.

Let me give you an example by telling you about my mother.

Creating a Community

When I was young, I lived in a kind of Levittown, in which all of the ranch houses were built on cleared farmland and within months of each other. Initially, the neighbors were varied and not close-knit. However, each year, my mother spent weeks baking up cookie boxes to take to everyone around our block. Each delivery involved my mom and siblings, adult conversation over a cup of coffee (milk for the kids) and everyone parting with a slightly deeper bond. Over time, a strong community grew from those cookie deliveries. We weren’t the same, but we learned to help and understand each other from similar small acts of kindness.

My mom didn’t stop with the neighbors but made cookie boxes for others in our daily lives — the postman, our milkman, the ladies in the church guild, the men who picked up our garbage, our teachers, and a host of others.

My mother made pressed cookies for her boxes (which we got to decorate). For her, the effort was part of the gift. She wasn’t a particularly good baker, but her gifts and visits were welcomed by all.

I still love the tradition of cookie boxes and the mightiness within a small act of giving. However, such detailed baking has little appeal to me. Fortunately, the same sharing doesn’t need the same baking style.

Several years ago, my friend, Jackie, introduced me to a gluten-free, drop cookie made simply with coconut, sweetened condensed milk, dried cranberries and vanilla. Awesome. And great to make for giving. Here’s the recipe.

Coconut Cranberry Drop Cookies

5 1/2 C sweetened flaked coconut (gently packed)

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 C dried cranberries

Heat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick foil. Spray the paper or foil with nonstick cooking spray, this is an important step. These little cookies can create quite a mess if the pan isn’t prepared properly. Be sure to line the baking sheets and spray with nonstick cooking spray for best results.

In a bowl, combine the ingredients; blend well.

Grease a teaspoon or cookie scoop or spray it with nonstick cooking spray. (Are you getting the impression yet that this dough is very sticky? Yes, but so very delicious!)

Using the teaspoon or cookie scoop, drop mounds of the coconut mixture onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1-1/2 inches between the cookies.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Immediately remove the cookies to a rack to cool. Makes about 3 dozen to share.

No Cookies Needed for Kindness

You don’t have to make or give cookies to practice daily kindness. There are thousands of ways to let your goodness shine every day in the small gifts you give to others.

Enjoy the holiday lights and let yourself shine even more brightly. May you have a joyful holiday season!