Choir Notes

A Good Christmas
From Music and the Spoken Word
Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell • Program 4238

At this festive time of year, we go to great lengths to assure that we have a happy holiday. Family traditions take on special meaning as we prepare favorite foods, light candles, hang ornaments on the Christmas tree, and sing the carols of the season. We do all this because we want to have a "good” Christmas. But how do we really judge the quality of our celebration?

We might consider the cost and number of gifts we give or receive. We could compare our elaborate decorations with those of our neighbors. Is our Nativity scene larger than the one down the street? Does our Christmas tree have more lights?

Or maybe we could judge the quality of our Christmas by things that are harder to measure but more important. Do our friends and family feel remembered, included, and cared about? Are gifts lovingly given without exceeding the spending limits on the credit card? Is the focus only on fun or on the real meaning of the season?

Successful holidays are determined not by the size and expense of the production but by the little things that may even go unnoticed—the light in the eyes of a child as he wraps a homemade present, the smile and laughter of one who is often lonely, the joy of lovingly serving someone in need. When the material gifts are worn out and forgotten, the memories of love and the feelings of joy will still be cherished.

He whose birth we celebrate never asked for much in the way of material things. He spent His life giving gifts of life and love to all who would receive them. The first Christmas was a relatively quiet celebration with a modest guest list. It was heralded with a message of peace, love, and "good tidings of great joy ... to all people” (Luke 2:10). And that was certainly a good Christmas.