Well, the weather has turned chilly, I got my broken Christmas music to play, and I've bought and wrapped a few presents, so Christmas has come to my house--just in the nick of time.
So, what part of that is Christmas?
The shopping and buying?
The Christmas music?
The cold weather?
Doing things for others?
The busy-ness?
Or is it the lights and decorations? The smells and the tastes?
Certainly all of it. But what parts could we do without and still have it feel like Christmas?
Since Christmas really is about the birth of the Savior, I guess we could do away with almost all of it, except maybe the doing things for others, since that is the crux of the meaning of Christmas.
I got to wondering today how many Christmas presents I have wrapped in my lifetime. I came from a large family who had huge Christmases, and when I lived at home I did a lot of the wrapping for my mother and siblings. Then I had a large family of my own and there are always lots of presents to wrap.
And how many Christmas cards have I written? How many cookies have I baked to give away?
It almost makes me feel like I have done some good in the world.
But what if we don't count Christmas, if we take the Decembers of my life out of the equation, then what do I have to show for myself? Not much, I'm afraid.
It makes me all the more grateful for this season. Even if what we do smacks of obligation, it is a wonderful opportunity to think of others, to do for others, to share our love through cards and cookies and gifts.
And the world, and we, are better for it.
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What has "made" Christmas for me this year is doing sharing time, bearing my testimony each week that Jesus Christ came to the earth and is one of the greatest gifts we have received AND helping others- my presents won't get finished, but I have had such a happy holiday helping out friends, old and new!
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