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Show BY LETTING OTHERS ENJOY YOUR HOME, YOUR TABLE, YOUR CHILDREN. AND YOUR TIME, YOU CAN BRING RICH NEW MEANING TO THE HOLIDAY SEASON. by H ave you ever considered what of broken toys and sending them off to Christmas really means in your the local fire department is considered home? If you want an an act of ultimate kindness. take your children aside and ask them, But there are so many more imWhat's the most important thing about pel tant things to share things that you Christmas? can give easily, painlessly, and which Chances are, youll get the same will bring tremendous happiness. answer we did: Getting presents. Things, too, which will rub off on your This jolted us, because we had children and make them aware of the worked hard at explaining to the joy and satisfaction and importance of children the spiritual significance of sharing. This should be a d Christmas and the importance of sharphilosophy, but what better time to begin it than at Christmas, when hearts ing. After we realized that explanations were useless and that only by living are clc.-- to the One who made love these precepts could we impress the and compassion His way of life? When we decided, a few years ago, children, we began really to make Christmas a time for sharing. And weve to try and shift the Christmas emphasis in our household from getting to enjoyed every minute of it. How many times especially around sharing, we began to look for ways Christmas have you pointed out to of setting the example for our children. We found a good many yet none of your children how much more satisthem is peculiar to us. You and your faction can be gained from giving instead of getting? Probably often; this neighbors have them in quantity, too. is one of the standard lectures parents What are some of the things you can inflict on their offspring. Yet children start to share this Christmas? . First of all, theres your home not learn by example, not by lecture. And what do children see around most in the sense of four walls and a roof, homes at Christmastime? They see their but in its broader meaning as a place parents return, tired and harassed, from of love, kindness, understanding, and shopping expeditions just in time to peace. These are qualities many people get ready for a round of holiday parties. seek with a special longing at Christmastime. To them and to all who will They are surrounded by catalogues, window telecome you should open your home and advertisements, displays, vision commercials, and dozens of other your hearts. Once you open wide your persuasive devices, all showing them doors, youll be surprised at the people the things they would like to get. who will gratefully drop in and partake Still, most youngsters today dig into of your home and what it offers. their coin purses to buy their parents a Then theres your table. Many people Christmas gift and in this way lift at are hungry, not so much for turkey and least a corner of the curtain of selfishdressing as for friendship, congeniality, ness with which grownups often hide the conversation, and the warm human fuller meaning of Christmas. But this relationships that go along with holiday is such a small thing compared to the meals. Share the turkey and dressing, more expansive meaning of sharing certainly, but much more important which children are ready and able to share the friendship and warmth. Weve if made it a point to share all of our is it to them. accept presented This is the responsibility of the Christmas meals breakfast included with people who might otherwise have parents. And its a sad fact that not only do most parents fail to meet this respent them alone. Its a rewarding and sponsibility but most of them dont even wonderful experience. You can even share your children. recognize it. Too often, sharing even to adults means only material posChristmas belongs to children. They sessions. To those grownups who think represent the joy and buoyancy and exof it at all, rounding up an assortment citement of the holiday season. eye-open- year-roun- e Joseph Newton And it isn't just doting g'andparents who would like to share your children. Ill never forget the plaintive request of a bachelor friend who had dinner with us one Christmas Eve. He lingered after the other guests were gone, and finally, as he stood hat in hand at the front door, he said, There were seven children in my family, and one 'of the most wonderful memories I have is of Christmas morning when we all raced downstairs to see the Christmas tree and open our gifts. Would you let me come over tomorrow morning and watch your children open theirs?. When I came down to turn on the tree lights very early that Christmas morning, he was waiting outside in his car. And every Christmas morning until he married and started a family of his own last year he became a part of our family. Along the way, he was joined by several others, all of whom have added tremendously to our Christmas pleasure while finding for themselves an extra measure of joy through our children. You can share your time, too. It takes very little time to bake an extra fruitcake for the maiden lady up the street; to telephone grandparents in a distant city and let the kids talk with them; to set an extra place for someone who would be eating alone; to pay a call on a friend who isnt able to call on you; to wrap an extra gift to put under the tree for someone who has no tree; or to open the Bible and think aloud for a few minutes with your family and friends about the spiritual significance of Christmas. Then you can share your interest. People who are away from family, home, or loved ones have stored up many things they want to say. And often it comes out in the generous atmosphere of your home at Christmastime. These people need interest, real and sincere, and you can give it to them and thereby profit yourself. An elderly gentleman from a nearby old peoples home spent his last two Christmases with us. His wife was dead, and his only surviving son lived some distance away and showed no interest in inviting him to visit there for the holidays. The old man always loved to watch our children open their gifts, and one he Christmas, after the told me in great detail of a Christmas morning in his home when his children were small. It took him almost an hour as he described every tiny occurrence, every gesture, every exclamation. When he finished, he fell silent a few minutes, then rejoined our family activities. I thought he had forgotten the conversation, but when I took him home that evening, he looked at me with the sort of simple gratitude that warms your heart, and said, Thanks for listening to me today. Many of us have become poor listeners, so immersed in our own seeming problems that we close out others who want and r I to communicate with us. Christmas is a good time to begin letting them in. We cant help growing in the process, because we are also letting in kindness and understanding and compassion. This is especially true with older people. When they come to your home at Christmas, or you go to theirs, show a genuine interest in what they want to tell you. With whom do you share? Everyone, of course, but especially with the lonely. Christmas can be a very sad season for people who have lost their families or are far away from them. It can also be lonely for those who are surrounded by other people but are hungry for love and understanding and kindness. You can bring meaning to these peoples Christmas by sharing w'ith them your home, table, family, time, interest, and spiritual enlightenment. When we think about Christmas sharing, we should remember that we are the heirs to the example of Jesus, Whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. From Him, we inherit love, compassion, kindness, grace, goodness. Can we do less to honor Him and to teach the children He loved so well than to make Christmas truly a time for sharing? gift-openi- |