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Dalton
Roberts |
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A reader writes, “Christmas has become my big blah of the year. Could your write something to perk up the Christmas spirit in a tired old lady’s heart?” That’s a big order but there have been years when my tired heart was unmoved by Christmas. A few simple decisions helped me restore the joy of the season and I am willing to share those with you. One important thing I did was to simplify shopping. Dragging from one mall to another right up to Christmas Eve can sure turn you into a Scrooge. After weeks of shopping, one can be too weary to extract a drop of meaning when Christmas Day rolls around. I started giving my closest loved ones money. What’s the difference in giving someone money and fishing around to see what they want? Even if you think you know what they want, you might get something that is not quite right. You may know they want a DVD player but you may not be aware that they want a specific kind. At least half the stuff I have been given for Christmas has been stuff I did not want. Then you have the problem of disposing of it by giving it to someone else or just throwing it away. Some of your gift givers may be like some of mine and start nosing around your house to see if their gifts are on display. Another way to catch the spirit is to respect those whose beliefs are not the same as yours. There’s a big thoughtless crusade in progress online to punish stores that do not have “Merry Christmas” signs, as if those who say “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” are unchristian. It is all too silly for words. The root word for “holidays” is “holy.” It is saying Christmas is a holy day. Those who think Jesus would favor not shopping with stores that do not have “Merry Christmas” signs have a view different than mine of his teachings and the magnanimous spirit he manifested in his short life among us. One thing this crusade overlooks is that the Jewish holy days of Hanukkah fall within the Christmas season. So does the Winter Solstice, which has special meaning for others. Cramming everyone into your celebratory mode is not the highest expression of Christianity. A day or two of reliving favorite memories from other Christmases will get me into a good frame of mind to enjoy Christmas. I think of the time I wrote a Christmas song for the Orange Grove Chorus and made a video of it. And the times I went out and did shows with them and sang it. There was always great hugs and knee-deep love. My father has passed out of this life but I recall the years when our family was living close to the bone and somehow he always managed to get the things we most desired. I had given up on getting a Western Flyer bicycle one year but he got it for me. Mother’s way of showing her love was writing special letters to us. I still have some of her Christmas letters in my journal. Each year when I read them again, I see the beauty of her love and the Christ-honoring thoughts she shared with me. Remembering mother reminds me of the most important thing you can share at Christmas. And that is a personal expression of your love that you make with your own hand or your own mind – a painting, a sculpture, a poem or a Christmas letter like my precious mother wrote for us. After my one-legged cardinal died, daughter Gaye sculpted me a one-legged Cardinal sitting on a piece of driftwood. No matter how much money she may have had, she could not have given me anything that would remain so special to me the rest of my days. As someone wisely said, “The greatest gift is a gift of your self.” ******** For Christmas giving, consider Dalton's
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