For many of our clients, and for many of us, we know this pain well. Many of our immigrant clients come from countries where they faced brutal oppression and constant danger. Many of them lost loved ones and don’t know if they’ll ever see their families again. They were irreparably harmed, unceremoniously torn out of joint by people with power. What can be said to them? What can possibly be expressed to provide comfort and peace in the midst of such deep travail?

In John 15, Jesus tells his friends to abide in his love. Abide is such a wonderful word, with an aura of luxuriating, waiting-without-a-care, guiltlessly delighting in a lazy front porch conversation on a summer evening, a glass of lemonade in your hand. It is, mostly, inert—but it is a beautiful and wonderful inertness that comes from confidence in the relationship and a deepening of attachment to Jesus, who sacrificed everything for us.

For many of us, Christmas is a wonderful reminder of all of the gifts we already have. Family, stability, support, and vocation. We can rejoice in these things and feel the well of strength rising within us. For many of the Clinic’s clients, many of these blessings may be in jeopardy or simply absent. For isolated ex-offenders, beleaguered immigrants, domestic violence survivors, and homeless teens, it is difficult to even conceptualize joy. But, many do. Many focus on those things that they do have: family, children, their relationship with Jesus, whatever modicum of stability they do have. They hold on to these things and it gives them strength to carry on.