And Try to Keep It All Year Long

During my writing session this morning I ran across this line from A Christmas Carol by Dickens.

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, 

and try to keep it all the year.’

Now wouldn’t that be something if we were indeed able to keep the spirit of Christmas all year long? 

Let me think for a moment …

At Christmas we:

  ~Smile a bit more

  ~Sing a few more tunes

  ~Give a bit more generously

  ~Love a bit more lovingly 

  ~We think of others and their wants and needs

I think we’re on to something here. 

What if I carried the spirit of Christmas on into the cold of January, and the harsh winds of March, the heat of June and the colorful leaves of October.

I never get far from John F. Kennedy’s words, and I feel they somehow fit this thought today.

Our most basic common link

Is that we all inhabit this planet.

We all breathe the same air. 

We all cherish our children’s future.

And we are all mortal.

When we consider this, it helps put Christmas and beyond in better perspective, I think.  It’s not about me or about you really.  Oh, we get caught up in the Me-Me-Me mindset, and I know that about mankind, but really, the focus might ought to be turned toward Us-Us-Us!

You have dreams and I have dreams.  How can we pursue those in tandem?

You have wants and needs and I have wants and needs.  What can I do to help you?

And the last line clinches it for me ~ AND WE ARE ALL MORTAL!

At the end of the day – at the end of the age – we are on equal footing.  I am not white privilege and you are not whatever you are.  WE are in this together.

I pray to God that I will remember that come January 1, and March 23, and July 20, and October 31. 

WE are creatures of God Almighty. 

He loves each of us – knows each of us – and He calls us by name.

A thought for this Christmas … and beyond.

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Walk Slowly Through Christmas

The words came to me this morning as I have been thinking about and mulling over the Christmas season.  I’ve read the lyrics to a dozen carols, I’ve revisited a hundred scriptural texts and read thoughts by other writers and this is what I’ve come up with.

Walk Slowly Through Christmas.  Walk very slowly, for if we rush, we might miss the cues, the sights, the smells, the sounds, and the hints of God’s love story that is for all of mankind.  ALL mankind – Americans-white or black, Hispanic, Asian, Jew, Gentile, Muslim, Greek, French, South African, German, Brit, Canadian, Russian, Latvian, and everybody else I’ve left out.  We are all included in this great story of love and redemption at Christmas.

Here is a sample of what I mean.

“Christ is reaching out to us today.  He is reaching through the chaos of our world, through the confusion of our minds.  He is reaching … longing to share with us … the very being of God.” 

This sounds as if it was written last week.  It was written in the seventies by Gloria Gaither, yet note the relevancy, the hope and the desire for today.” 

Another:

“From the azure halls of heaven to a lowly manger stall,

Jesus came, and here He gave His life for all”

There it is, in a Christmas song, the story of redemption, the story of hope and forgiveness.  That one could be easily missed.  Walk slowly. 

Remember this?

“The Word was made flesh, He lived among us, and we saw His glory, the glory that is His as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth”

How about this?

“O come to my heart Lord Jesus.  

There is room in my heart for Thee”

And this:

“When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy” The wise men weren’t just happy, mildly so.  They were exceedingly joyful.  They were jumping with joy.  When is the last time you let out exceeding great joy?  That must have been something to see. 

“Fear not!”  How many times in the Christmas portions of the scriptures do we read these words? 

Angel Gabriel to Mary

Angel to the shepherds on the hillside

Angel to Joseph to “be not afraid to take Mary as your wife”

One of the great messages of Christmas is this … Have No Fear!

I love this one …

“How silently, how silently,

the wondrous gift is given

So God imparts to human hearts

the blessings of his heaven

No ear may hear His coming,

but in this world of sin

Where meek souls will receive Him still,

the dear Christ enters in”

And this …

Cast out our sin and enter in,

be born in us today

Perhaps my favorite of all:

Then rang the bells more loud and deep

God is not dead, nor does He sleep

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail

With peace on earth good will to man

Take a slow stroll through Christmas this year.  Look for the old to become new, the tired and worn phrases that suddenly jump out with freshness, and listen with renewed ears to the songs of the season, both sacred and secular.  Hear the joy, the hope, the love and the optimism.

Merry Christmas!

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