#22. Tis a Jolly Christmas...This Year ?
It's Christmas-time in the city . . . and across the countryside . . . and throughout much of the civilized world (I think). For many, it's a magical time of year . . . every year. Numerous shoppers, however, are complaining that the traditional slogans of 'Merry Christmas' are being replaced by 'Happy Holidays'. Local city councils are voting on whether the colors green and red are to be tolerated on the courthouse lawn. Family get-togethers are now being planned -- or not planned (and they won't let me know which).My unofficial gestament poll is that 23.6% of the U.S. citizens will focus on the spiritual meaning of Christmas about 3.2% of the time, 64.9% will be caught up totally in the commercialization of it all, 7.3% will not decide until the 24th whether to participate this year, and 4.2% are undecided about the cause of all the hoopla.
What does this Christmas Season mean to you . . . at this stage of your life?
- Are you ecstatic or static about Christmas?
- Do you find yourself merely whelmed or over-whelmed by all the commotion?
- Are you saddened by the loss of a loved one?
- Or grateful for all the memories of a life-time friendship?
- Are you elated your beau surprised you with a ring?
- Or are you deflated cause your phone does not ring?
If you have nothing else to do before Christmas, make a comment. Really -- tell me a story. Let me know what Xmas -- sorry, Christmas -- means to you!
Labels: Meaning of Christmas
posted by Virgil at 8:58 PM
12 Comments:
1.) Christmas, first of all, means celebrating the TRUE meaning of the holiday: the Birth of our Lord and Saviour.
2.) Christmas also means getting together with family and friends for presents, eating, and just spending good times together; after all, isn't that what Christmas is about: spending time with the ones you love??
3.) Christmas also means singing at church, singing songs of Jesus' Birth, and hearing the Story of The First Christmas, and singing all of those beautiful Christmas songs.
4.) Christmas means Christmas lights and Christmas trees decorated with ornaments; and Christmas holly and wreaths.
5.) Christmas means cold weather and snow... and cuddling oh so close by the fire.
6.) Christmas means getting to test out your new sled or remote control car, or getting to play with your new computer; and also getting to wear your Sunday or Holiday Best.
7.) Christmas means cookies and cakes baked fresh by grandma'; and Christmas means getting to help mom with cooking the food.
8.) Christmas means being on your best possible behavior (for Santa Claus is watching out over all the good little boys and girls, and if a boy or a girl gets into mischief, he or she may find a lump of coal in their stockings!).
9.) Christmas means sharing memories of past Christmases with your family as you recall special moments or gifts you may have gotten.
10.) Christmas means singing a solo during the annual Christmas program at church.
11.) Christmas means watching shows like "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Frosty The Snowman", and "It's A Wonderful Life" on television.
12.) Christmas also means birthdays.. Jesus' Birthday.
13.) Christmas is all about loveing one another always unconditionally.
The best was yet to come this year while decorating the church Christmas tree with a dear friend that put together for me a train set under this most beautiful Christmas Tree. I got to watch and enjoy this grown man as he layed on the floor watching the train go around the tree.The excitment in his face... He has a sort of innocence, or child like quality that is really attractive. God blessed me with this precious moment, and it will forever remain in my heart.For me this was my Christmas gift from God to me.
Thank You.
Merry Chistmas
Christmas With Louise
As a joke, my brother used to hang a pair of panty hose over his fireplace before Christmas. He said all he wanted was for Santa to fill them. What they say about Santa checking the list twice must be true because every Christ! mas morning, although Jay's kids' stockings
were overflowed, his poor pantyhose hung sadly empty.
One year I decided to make his dream come true. I put on sunglasses and went in search of an inflatable love doll. They don't sell those things at Wal-Mart. I had to go to an adult bookstore downtown.
If you've never been in an X-rated store, don't go. You'll only confuse yourself. I was there an hour saying things like, 'What does this do? You're kidding me! Who would buy that?' Finally, I made it to the inflatable doll section.
I wanted to buy a standard, uncomplicated doll that could also substitute as a passenger in my truck so I could use the car pool lane during rush hour.
Finding what I wanted was difficult. Love Dolls come in many different models. The top of the line, according to the side of the box, could do things I'd only seen in a book on animal husbandry. I settled for Lovable Louise. She was at the bottom of the price scale. To call Louise a doll took a huge leap of imagination.
On Christmas Eve and with the help of an old bicycle pump, Louise came to life.
My sister-in-law was in on the plan and let me in during the wee morning hours. Long after Santa had come and gone, I filled the dangling pantyhose with Louise's pliant legs and bottom. I also ate some cookies and drank what remained of a glass of milk on a nearby tray. I went home, and giggled for a couple of hours.
The next morning my brother called to say that Santa had been to his house and left a present that had made him VERY happy but had left the dog confused. She would bark, start to walk away, then come back and bark some more.
We all agreed that Louise should remain in her panty hose so the rest of the family could admire her when they came over for the traditional Christmas dinner.
My grandmother noticed Louise the moment she walked in the door 'What the hell is that?' she asked.
!
My brother quickly explained, 'It's a doll'
'Who would play with something like that?' Granny snapped.
I had several candidates in mind, but kept my mouth shut.
'Where are her clothes?' Granny continued.
'Boy, that turkey sure smells nice Gran' Jay said, to steer her into the dining room.
But Granny was relentless. 'Why doesn't she have any teeth?'
Again, I could have answered, but why would I? It was Christmas and no one wanted to ride in the back of the ambulance saying, 'Hang on Granny, hang on!'
My grandfather, a delightful old man with poor eyesight, sidled up to me and said, 'Hey, who's the naked gal by the fireplace?'
I told him she was Jay's friend.
A few minutes later I noticed Grandpa by the mantel, talking to Louise. Not just talking, but actually flirting. It was then that we realized this might be Grandpa's last Christmas at home.
The dinner went well. We made the usual small talk abou! t who had di ed, who was dying, and who should be killed, when suddenly Louise made a noise like my father in the bathroom in the morning. Then she lurched from the panty hose, flew around the room twice, and fell in a heap in front of the sofa.
The cat screamed. I passed cranberry sauce through my nose, and Grandpa ran across the room, fell to his knees, and began administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. My brother fell back over his chair and wet his pants.
Granny threw down her napkin, stomped out of the room, and sat in the car.
It was indeed a Christmas to treasure and remember.
Later in my brother's garage, we conducted a thorough examination to decide the cause of Louise's collapse. We discovered that Louise had suffered from a hot ember to the back of her right thigh.
Fortunately, thanks to a wonder drug called duct tape, we restored her to perfect health! Now that is my story about Christmas, and it will be remembered for a long time to come. It sure made grandpa happy!
Merry Christmas To All!
"There's no place like home for the holidays" and Christmas for me is the most joyest time of the year. Decorating the tree, home made butter christmas cookies, fruitcake, family at the dinner table,spending Christmas with a special friend that is dear to my heart, lots of love and laughter, hugs..oh those hugs! snuggle in front of the fireplace with a wonderful glass of wine and with that special man or woman.
I don't need to receave a gift to unwrap. Just being with family and friends and of course that special someone is all that matters. And of course celebrating the birthday of Jesus. LOTS OF LOVE, LOTS OF LOVE, LOTS OF LOVE, never enough love! Merry Christmas
What Christmas means to me is that our Creator—unites us in love, faith, and peace. We are God’s children, and we recognize our sacredness and the sacredness of all people.
Jesus brought God’s message of love and the sacredness of all humankind to the world. And as we celebrate His birth, we also celebrate our rebirth, the realization of our spiritual nature. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
I shall be away from my family and our British Christmas traditions this year as I am currently living in Jerusalem. However the experience of celebrating Christmas in the place where it all began (the neighbouring town of Bethlehem) will be memorable but more I fear for the Israeli checkpoint, soldiers and concrete separation wall that I will have to pass to get there, than for the carol services themselves.
Louise, Beit Safafa, East Jerusalem
We began our Yule season on December 20th (Mother's Night), and won't be done till New Years Day! By celebrating all 12 Days of Christmas, with a simple dinner followed by meaningful oaths, boasts and toasts, we avoid the Christmas Day crunch. Blessings to all - may we together create a better world!
Dean Rose, Urbana, Illinois USA
When I was a kid it was all the excitement and presents. Then I was lost for a while, presents didn't mean much any more and the excitement was mostly advertisments. Now, I have learned it is not about getting, it's about giving. Sometimes presents, most of the time friendship and love. I see a lot of that now and that has taken over and given me a new a greater feeling than any I have had before. When I say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays it means, I wish for you to have happiness and love in your heart.
My mom let me use her computer while visiting her tonight. She showed e this think piece and I just couldn't resist a comment!
I love christmas! Its the time of year when you feel most loved by everyone. And you know that feeling when you buy yourself something, and you feel really happy because you have something brand new? It's like, twenty times as good as that feeling on christmas morning. I like the presents, and the food, but I like how everyone is in such a good mood and no one argues and its just great the most. I also love all the cheesy christmassy movies that go on tv about this time. They remind me of good times. Aww, now I feel like hugging everyone!.
(I got that from Mom) Merry Christmas Reverend Brewer, and everyone at Unity Chapel.
A friend passed this along my way and I thought it would add to the jolliness of the season. Enjoy!
My husband and I had been happily married (most of the time)for five years but hadn't been blessed with a baby. I decided to do some serious praying and promised God that if he would give us a child, I would be a perfect mother, love it with all my heart and raise it with His word as my guide.
God answered my prayers and blessed us with a son. The next year God blessed us with another son. The following year, He blessed us with yet another son. The year after that we were blessed with a daughter. My husband thought we'd been blessed right into poverty.
We now have four children, and the oldest was only four years old.
I learned never to ask God for anything unless I meant it. As a minister once told me, 'If you pray for rain,
make sure you carry an umbrella.' I began reading a few verses of the Bible to the children each day as they lay in their cribs. I was off to a good start. God had entrusted me with four children and I didn't want to disappoint Him. I tried to be patient the day the children smashed two dozen eggs on the kitchen floor searching for baby chicks. I tried to be understanding ... when they started a hotel for homeless frogs in the spare bedroom, although it took me nearly two hours to catch all twenty-three frogs.
When my daughter poured ketchup all over herself and
rolled up in a blanket to see how it felt to be a hot dog, I tried to see the humor rather than the mess.
In spite of changing over twenty-five thousand diapers, never eating a hot meal and never sleeping for more than thirty minutes at a time, I still thank God daily for my children. While I couldn't keep my promise to be a perfect mother--I didn't even come close...I did keep my promise to raise them in the Word of God. I knew I was missing the mark just a little when I told
my daughter we were going to church to worship God, and she wanted to bring a bar of soap along to 'wash up' Jesus, too. Something was lost in the translation when I explained that God gave us everlasting life, and my son thought it was generous of God to give us his 'last wife.'
My proudest moment came during the children's Christmas pageant. My daughter was playing Mary, two of my sons were shepherds and my youngest son was a wise man. This was their moment to shine. My five-year-old shepherd had practiced his line, 'We found the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes.' But he was nervous and said, 'The baby was wrapped in wrinkled clothes.' My four-year old 'Mary' said, 'That's not 'wrinkled clothes,' silly. That's dirty, rotten clothes.'
A wrestling match broke out between Mary and the shepherd and was stopped by an angel, who bent her halo and lost her left wing. I slouched a little lower in my seat when Mary dropped the doll representing
Baby Jesus, and it bounced down the aisle crying, 'Mama-mama.' Mary grabbed the doll, wrapped it back up and held it tightly as the wise men arrived. My other son stepped forward wearing a bathrobe and a paper crown, knelt at the manger and announced, 'We are the three wise men, and we are bringing gifts of gold, common sense and fur.'
The congregation dissolved into laughter, and the pageant got a standing ovation. 'I've never enjoyed a Christmas program as much as this one,' laughed the pastor, wiping tears from his eyes.
'For the rest of my life, I'll never hear the Christmas story without
thinking of gold, common sense and fur.'
'My children are my pride and my joy and my greatest
blessing,' I said as I dug through my purse for an aspirin.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!
Wow, what does Christmas mean to me? It's a time of sharing and happy spirits. It's the one time of the year that everyone just seems happier; a time of love and joy. I love Christmas. It's my favorite holiday.
I'm finding this Christmas just a little sadder than usual. I'm missing my friends, the ones that have moved away for jobs and the one that recently died - much too young! Like so many others, I will spend part of the holiday with my family, but then return home to my empty house. Ok, dog will greet me joyfully. I will make sure she has a stocking full of doggy treats.
Dear Children,
It has come to My attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the Christmas season. How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you whom I've blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just get along and love one another. Now, having said that, let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of your Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that, there wouldn't be any need for such a scene onthe town square because there would be many of them all around town. Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish. I actually spoke of that once in a teaching explaining who I am in relation to you & what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.
If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth, here is My wish list. Choose something from it.
1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know--they tell me all the time.
2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them
personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.
3. Instead of writing George complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.
4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and
they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My Birth, and why I came to live with you. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.
5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.
6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile. It could make the difference. Also, you might consider supporting the local Suicide Hot-Line. They talk with people like that every day.
7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas," that doesn't keep you from wishing them one.
8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary,
especially one who takes My love & good news to those who have never
heard my name. You may already know someone like that.
9. Here's a good one. There are individuals & whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them (and I suspect you don't) buy some food & a few gifts & give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me & they will make the delivery for you.
10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and
loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of Mine.
P.S.: Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me & do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above & get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember--- I LOVE YOU!
I receaved this most beautiful story in the e-mail, and I wanted to share this story with all of you. I know it touched my heart, as it will yours.
Will the Christ Child Come?
One Christmas we had an interesting experience that I would like to share Halfway through December we were doing the regular evening things when
there was a knock at the door. We opened it to find a small package with a beautiful ceramic lamb inside. We looked at the calendar and realized that the 12 days of Christmas were beginning! We waited excitedly for the next
night's surprise and only then, with the gift of a matching shepherd, did we realize that the lamb was part of a nativity set.
Each night we grew more excited to see what piece we would receive. Each was exquisitely beautiful. The kids kept trying to catch the givers as we slowly built the scene at the manager and began to focus on Christ's birth.
On Christmas Eve, all the pieces were in place, but the baby Jesus. My 12 year-old son really wanted to catch our benefactors and began to devise all kinds of ways to trap them. He ate his dinner in the mini-van watching and waiting, but no one came.
Finally we called him in to go through our family's Christmas Eve
traditions. But before the kids went to bed we checked the front step, No Baby Jesus! We began to worry that my son had scared them off.
My husband suggested that maybe they dropped the Jesus and there wouldn't be anything coming. Somehow something was missing that Christmas Eve.
There was a feeling that things weren't complete. The kids went to bed and I put out Christmas presents, but before I went to bed I again checked to see if the Jesus had come -- no, the doorstep was empty.
In our family the kids can open their stockings when they want to,but they have to wait to open any presents until Dad wakes up. So one by one they woke up very early and I also woke up to watch them. Even before they opened their stockings, each child checked to see if perhaps during the night the baby Jesus had come. Missing that piece of the set seemed to have an odd effect. At least it changed my focus. I knew there were presents under the tree for me and I was excited to watch the children open their gifts, but first on my mind was the feeling of waiting for the ceramic Christ Child.
We had opened just about all of the presents when one of the children found one more for me buried deep beneath the limbs of the tree. He handed me a small package from my former visiting teaching companion. This sister
was somewhat less active in the church. I had been her visiting teacher for a couple of years and then, when she was asked to be a visiting teacher, she requested to go with me. I had learned over time they didn't have much for Christmas, so that their focus was the children. It sounded like she didn't get many gifts to open, so I had always given her a small
package--new dish towels, the next year's Relief Society lesson manual--not much, but something for her to open.
I was touched when at Church on the day before Christmas, she had given me this small package, saying it was just a token of her love and appreciation.
As I took off the bow, I remembered my friendship with her and was filled with gratitude for knowing her and for her kindness and sacrifice in this year giving me a gift. But as the paper fell away, I began to tremble and cry.
There in the small brown box was the baby Jesus. He had come! I realized on that Christmas Day that Christ will come into our lives in ways that we don't expect. The spirit of Christ comes into our hearts as we serve one
another. We had waited and watched for him to come, expecting the dramatic "knock at the door and scurrying of feet" but he came in a small, simple package that represented service friendship, gratitude, and love.
This experience taught me that the beginning of the true spirit of
Christmas comes as we open our hearts and actively focus on the Savior.
But we will most likely find him in the small and simple acts of love, friendship and service that we give to each other. This Christmas I want to feel again the joy of knowing that Christ is in our home. I want to focus on loving and serving. More than that I want to open my heart to him
all year that I may see him again.
Merry Merry Christmas!
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