Walking through the malls and the stores it’s hard sometimes to see the resemblance of Christmas as it first began, in a manger in Bethlehem so many years ago. The lights, the music and all of the buildup towards Christmas doesn’t seem to reflect well what the first Christmas was all about.
But when you look a little deeper you often see it, those reflections of Christmas. You see it in the annual toy drives that happen to ensure that every child has a gift to open on Christmas morning. It is shown in the many volunteers who work to collect food and then deliver hampers to those families who may be struggling financially at this time of year. Those expressions of caring, often made anonymously or received by people the giver will never meet, show us a reflection of Christmas.
It is also heard in the voices of carolers who visit places where residents are unable to leave easily like hospitals and Personal Care Homes. Those carolers and choirs come and share the gift of music to bring joy and contentment to those who may be experiencing physical pain or affliction.
The reflection of Christmas is also seen in countless acts of individual kindness between friends, neighbors and strangers. The phone call or visit to a friend who has lost a loved one in the past year and may be experiencing the loss more deeply at this time of the year. It is experienced in the kindness of a person who provides a prepared meal to a neighbor who is in need.
Throughout my life, I have seen countless acts of kindness and selflessness during this time of year. There have been times in my life when I have also been the recipient of these acts of generosity at Christmas and times when I’ve been fortunate to offer that kindness to others.
So while it may often seem that the hope, the kindness, the peace and the caring that is such a part of the meaning of Christmas and the birth of Jesus is lost in the modern Christmas, those values are all around us. They are reflected by so many people helping and supporting one another.
This Christmas whatever your circumstances, be they joyful or difficult, may the true spirit of Christmas surround you and your loved ones. And as we gather with our friends and family may we be the reflection of Christmas that makes this such a special time of year. Together with my wife Kim and my son Malachi we wish you a blessed Christmas.
