Christmas is love in action...

Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas.

--Dale Evans

A heart full of love...

A heart full of love is a heart full of Christmas daily.

--Maria Fontaine

Christmas means a spirit of love...

Best of all, Christmas means a spirit of love, a time when the love of God and the love of our fellow men should prevail over all hatred and bitterness, a time when our thoughts and deeds and the spirit of our lives manifest the presence of God.

--George F. McDougall

Are you willing to believe...

Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world--stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death--and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas.

--Henry Van Dyke

Love came down at Christmas

By Christina Rosetti

Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas;
Star and angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine;
Worship we our Jesus,
But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.

Somehow, not only for Christmas

By John Greenleaf Whittier

Somehow, not only for Christmas,
But all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others,
Is the joy that comes back to you.
And the more you spend in blessing,
The poor and lonely and sad,
The more of your heart's possessing,
Returns to you glad.

Christmas--that magic blanket...

Christmas--that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance--a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved.

--Augusta E. Rundel

God grant you the light...

God grant you the light in Christmas, which is faith;
the warmth of Christmas, which is love;
the radiance of Christmas, which is purity;
the righteousness of Christmas, which is justice;
the belief in Christmas, which is truth;
the all of Christmas, which is Christ.

--Wilda English

The earth has grown old...

The earth has grown old with its burden of care,
But at Christmas it always is young.

--Phillips Brooks

Christmas is a state of mind...

Christmas is a state of mind. It's happiness, gratitude, love, rejoicing, giving, playing, thanking, sacrificing, and remembering. Do those things and you'll never have a hard time "feeling like Christmas."

--Maria Fontaine

Christmas is the season...

Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.

--Washington Irving

I wish we could put up...

I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.

--Harlan Miller

Christmas is the gentlest...

Christmas is the gentlest, loveliest festival of the revolving year--and yet, for all that, when it speaks, its voice has strong authority.

--W.J. Cameron

Blessed is the season...

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!

--Hamilton Wright Mabie

A Christmas Prayer

By Robert Louis Stevenson

Loving Father,
Help us remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds,
and worship of the wise men.

Close the door of hate
and open the door of love all over the world.
Let kindness come with every gift
and good desires with every greeting.
Deliver us from evil by the blessing
which Christ brings,
and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning
make us happy to be thy children,
and Christmas evening bring us to our beds
with grateful thoughts,
forgiving and forgiven,
for Jesus' sake.
Amen.

At Christmas

By Edgar Guest

A man is at his finest
towards the finish of the year;
He is almost what he should be
when the Christmas season is here;
Then he's thinking more of others
than he's thought the months before,
And the laughter of his children
is a joy worth toiling for.
He is less a selfish creature than
at any other time;
When the Christmas spirit rules him
he comes close to the sublime.

When it's Christmas man is bigger
and is better in his part;
He is keener for the service
that is prompted by the heart.
All the petty thoughts and narrow
seem to vanish for awhile
And the true reward he's seeking
is the glory of a smile.
Then for others he is toiling and
somehow it seems to me
That at Christmas he is almost
what God wanted him to be.

If I had to paint a picture of a man
I think I'd wait
Till he'd fought his selfish battles
and had put aside his hate.
I'd not catch him at his labors
when his thoughts are all of pelf,
On the long days and the dreary
when he's striving for himself.
I'd not take him when he's sneering,
when he's scornful or depressed,
But I'd look for him at Christmas
when he's shining at his best.

Man is ever in a struggle
and he's oft misunderstood;
There are days the worst that's in him
is the master of the good,
But at Christmas kindness rules him
and he puts himself aside
And his petty hates are vanquished
and his heart is opened wide.
Oh, I don't know how to say it,
but somehow it seems to me
That at Christmas man is almost
what God sent him here to be.

A Christmas Orange

Author unknown

Jake lived in a run-down orphanage with nine other boys. At Christmas, the building always seemed a little warmer; and the food a little more plentiful. But more than this, Christmas meant an orange. Every year, each boy received as a Christmas gift, an orange. It was the only time such a rare treat was provided and it was coveted by each boy like no other thing they ever possessed.

Each boy would save his orange for several days, admiring it, feeling it, loving it, and contemplating the moment he would eat it. Some would even save it until New Year's Day to stretch the memory of Christmas.

This particular Christmas day, Jake had broken the orphanage rules by starting a fight. As punishment for breaking the rules, Jake's orange was taken away. Jake spent Christmas day feeling empty and alone. Night time came and Jake could not sleep. Silently, he sobbed because of the loss of his precious gift.

In the night, without warning, a soft hand placed on Jake's shoulder startled him. An object was quickly placed in his hand. The child then disappeared into the dark to leave Jake alone to discover an orange. Not an ordinary orange, but a special orange, made from the segments of nine other oranges. Nine highly prized oranges that had to be eaten that Christmas night, instead of saved, admired, and cherished until a later date. This Christmas would be cherished forever.

Christmas Eve was...

Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart... filled it, too, with a melody that would last forever.

--Bess Streeter Aldrich

Keep your Christmas-heart...

Keep your Christmas-heart open all the year round.

--Jessica Archmint