Sharing Christmas

     

     "I'll be home for Christmas. You can count on me. Please have snow and mistletoe and presents 'round the tree..." 

— recorded by Bing Crosby in 1943

     This popular Christmas song never fails to fill me with nostalgic moments each time I hear it, bringing memories of past Christmases spent with family and friends. Unfortunately, not everyone gets to go home. Then, there are others out there that don't even have a home to go to, much less a caring family. 

     While much joy and revelry surround the celebration, there is also much sadness lurking around the corner. 

     

     At Christmas all hearts turn towards home and family.  A group of college students was asked, "How many of you are planning to go home for the holidays?" Almost every hand went up. "Why?" they were asked, "Why do you want to go home?" The answers: "That's where I have a sense of belonging."  "My family accepts me for who I am."  One just wept and said, "That's where the deepest feelings of my heart and soul are. I am them, and they are me."  

     Thank God for families! I think we are often called upon to be "the family" for others who have none, or are a long way from theirs.  

     

I still recall Nel's remembering the pain and loneliness he felt that Christmas day, spending it all alone in his one-room boarding house. 

     Out west, as a young man serving in the air force, and later attending theological school and pastoring churches, he was miles from his maritime family. 

     No one thought to even ask him to a Christmas dinner! This left a lasting impression on Nels, so throughout the years I would often hear him say, "Let's ask if they have anyone to share Christmas with?" 

     He was always ready to extend to others that warm, friendly touch. We seemed to have an unwritten rule over the years, that "no one was to spend Christmas day alone, if we knew about it." 

     I am still trying to have an open heart open home, and am always pleased when there are extra feet under my table. 

     Christmas is many things to many people — parties, new clothes, special baking, beautiful, glittering decorations inside and outside of homes, listening to and singing the timeless carols, getting in touch with old friends, and attending at least one Christmas service at church. 

     But, many of us know it is, oh so much more!  These can make it enjoyable, but the thoughts expressed in the following prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson is really the crux of it all.  

  

   

     

     "Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels — the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the wise men. 

     Close the door of hate, and open doors of love, all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift, and good desires with every greeting. 

     Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts. 

     May Christmas morning make us happy to be your children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful hearts.  In Jesus name. Amen."

— beulah