Merry Christmas to the world!!
Put your hot chocolate down, stop unwrapping your presents, burn a couple calories with your eyes and take 5 minutes to read this blog….YOU WON’T REGRET IT. I would like to start with a little story from a great classic show that we all know, and this is in regards to “what is Christmas about?”.
The moment I’ve been thinking about is the scene of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
Charlie Brown is at the peak of his frustration as director of the school Christmas play he is trying to organize. He has picked out the saddest Christmas tree possible for the program. His friends ridicule at the “lame” little tree and laugh at his stupidity — not only for the tree itself, but for the awful mess of a play he has attempted to stage. This is Charlie’s breaking point. Having lamented the commercialization of Christmas and now squarely facing his ineptitude in pulling of an acceptable play he shouts pleadingly, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”
“Sure Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about” says Linus. And he recites the story of Jesus’s birth from the second chapter of the Luke’s Gospel:
“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’”
The day we have all hyped about for months, the day where we see family and everyone LOVES each other and can stand each other for the next 24 hours. It is finally here and let’s just say it is a joyous day. What a beautiful time, and what a meaningful holiday, but “is this what its all about, just those things”. Sometimes in life I think what can happen is we can get so lost in the material aspects of things. The presents, the lights, the “what am I going to get”, that we lose sight of the real thing before our eyes. What is Christmas? It is a time of giving, it is the birth of the baby Jesus on earth. A joyous time and time for celebration, and time for us to bring our minds to that special moment that happened years ago.
Why is it so easy to get caught up in the material aspect of the holiday? Quite simple. Those things are easy and they are what we see and do cause its easy when it is focused on us. Instead, lets act as if the decorations, the food, the gifts are all the icing on the cake, instead of the cake itself. Once we do this we can see it from a different perspective, Christmas becomes something so much more. Here then is the miracle of Christmas and its true meaning: that the good tidings of great joy are for all people. Not for just our friends and family, but for everyone. Not only for the religious or pious. Not for the wealthy and comfortable. Not simply for the meek and poor. When the angels came singing to the shepherds they sang peace and goodwill to ALL men. They sang a promise of hope to the entire world, and this is what we should be boiling in the roots of our being everyday. So take this day to focus on anyone but ourselves, put everyone above us today and focus on that love that is selfless like HE did for us by being born on this earth. If we can do this we can help ourselves with that foundation we are trying to build strong, and it makes us that much better of a person. Striving for greatness is shown through our actions, on everyday and especially Christmas day.
Ok… go back to your family and spread the Christmas cheer and remember you may have been on the “nice” list this year, but now you have 364 more days to be even “nicer”.
Merry Christmas to everyone:)
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