Christmas Comes But Once A Year

~MBC~

Rush, Rush, Hush, Hush - Time of joy -

Time of sadness - Wishing, Going, Doing - Not enough

time - Not enough money!  These are the sounds of

Christmas!

Christmas should be a time of peace and tranquility, joy and love.  It should be a time of year looked forward to by young and old alike.  A time to last forever.  Each year, we, as civilized people, rush, push and hawk the Christmas season until we begin to wish we could just skip this holiday.  We have commercialized and exploited Christmas to the point that, instead of anticipating the coming of Christmas with joy and gladness, we dread the time.

Christmas is - love, joy, baking cookies, good food, good company, singing - a time of rebirth within our families and our lives - a new beginning - a new try at improving our lives another year.

We should forget trying to outspend each other and giving more expensive gifts that our cousins, Aunts, or whoever.  We let ourselves be "pushed" into spending more.

How much better to exchange our love and tokens of love with our families in a way that will not make us dread the January 1st bills.  Why not make inexpensive gifts that will be treasured long after the expensive gift is gone?  Why not write a letter of appreciation, telling someone how much they and their love has meant to us this past year?

Everywhere you turn, you are asked to bring a gift - schools, clubs, churches (yes, even Churches).  Why not do as the principle of one of our local schools does?  He has a beautiful, huge tree in the lobby of the school decorated with "homemade" items (made by the children) and laden with canned goods.  Pressure is not put on anyone to bring something - you put your own gift under the tree anytime - therefore not embarrassing some child who could not afford to bring a gift.

The first Christmas many years ago, the most treasured gift was not the gold, frankincense or myrrh - but the gift of love the lowly shepherd boy brought. 

Let's begin this year by teaching our children the real meaning of Christmas and Santa Claus - to give and receive love freely and fully now and throughout the year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A LOVING NEW YEAR