Santa has come, the presents are open, tummies are filled, and now it is time to pay all the bills.
Wait that isn't really what Christmas is all about. I learned that better this year than any year ever before. Yes we have done the Christmas Eve candlelight service, and the Advent candles, we have given to the bell ringers of Salvation Army, and all these things are important don't get me wrong. Any time you are reminded of the birth of Christ and the long trek to the stable by Mary and Joseph is important.
What I am talking about is getting down to basics, new life (the birth of Christ), the gathering of loved ones (Mary, Joseph all the wise men etc) and the sharing of peace, comfort and joy.
You see this year our daughter was not able to come home for Christmas. This was the first time in her short 25 years of life. She was saddened, I was saddened, to say the least it was difficult for all. But then as I was trying to console our daughter I began listening to my own words more carefully. You see I kept telling her, "it is just a day". Now those that are very religious may argue with my evaluation but think about it. All the things we are supposed to be celebrating we should actually be doing everyday of our lives. Christmas isn't really about the tree, and the Christmas presents, it is about the love of family, the love of our neighbors, peace and goodwill around the world. We and the retailers are the ones that have commercialized this holiday.
So it really is just a day, one of 365 to love our neighbors, honor our mother and father, Love our Lord God. Perhaps if we really wanted to honor the birth of our Lord we should give a gift everyday of the year, not just December 25th, and as my daughter said in her card that accompanied her gifts to the family, "they were each picked with sincere love". Isn't that in fact what it really is all about and perhaps what God may have intended by having the "Virgin Mary" carry his child?
Personally I am going to take my own words more to heart, it is "just a day" and my New Years resolution is to start making every day, all 365 days of the year Christmas by sharing some measure of peace, joy and love to all I meet and love.
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1 comment:
AMEN! You go, girl!
Like you say, the sentiments of Xmas should be a part of our every day lives. "Xmas Day" really is just a day.
In case you have any doubt, God gives us no record of what day Jesus was born. And consider. How likely is it, really, that God would have had poor little Jesus to be born in a manger in the dead of winter? And would the shepherds really have had their poor sheep out in the fields in the dead of winter?
The important thing isn't the day he was born. The important thing is that He was born.
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