Where are You, Christmas?
I once heard a sermon entitled “Christmas 365 Days a Year.” The speaker informed that the reason people are so excited at Christmastime is the spirit of giving and goodwill that exists beyond the norm. Further, he stated that we could have Christmas all year long if we would practice those traits consistently. I have rehearsed this message and thought in my mind for over 30 years for its near-the-bone truths.
The Grinch thought Christmas came from a store. Outside-in. You don’t have to live on frosty Mount Crumpet for his thinking to find lodgment in your heart. We may also fall into the trap of waiting for the season to come to us. Outside-in. See, it’s easier for us to sit and wait rather than take an active part in making our realities. Christmas is not in the money as much as it is the mindset. Children wait for Christmas- adults should not.
There are so many things that must start within us if they are ever to be. A song often used at Christmas is “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” A part of the refrain is “and let it begin in me.” Of course, the idea is that everything starts somewhere and that possible somewhere could be within me. Starting something requires more effort than just enjoying the fallen fruits of a ripened tree, but there is more blessing in giving than in receiving.
God looking on the heart and all, what does He see when He looks inside me…or you? Whatever is in our hearts will, ultimately, be seen in our actions. It is what we really are, after all. But that does not excuse our feeble actions when we don’t “feel like it.” Mature people don’t rely on the teenybopper’s by-line, “I’m just not into it.” We ought to be motivated correctly, but we also should learn to act correctly- motivation or not.
Sometimes, we act a certain way because we are motivated, but, sometimes, motivation follows action. Our inside and our outside are not always on the same side, but they work together. I’m saying that I hope you have the proper motivation for good deeds but perform the good deeds whether the motivation is there or not. You will be blessed in doing and a blessing to others if you will be the instigator of comfort and joy this year.
Christmas will come if you bring it. Let it well up within and overflow your life surrounding others. When you are weak inside, practice righteousness, and you will find strength for your journey and joy in opportunities. Of Tiny Tim remember, “And it was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed that knowledge, and may that be said of us, and of all of us, and may God bless us everyone.”
Sterl
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