Christmas isn't just a day...

Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind.

--Valentine Davies (in Miracle on 34th Street)

Christmas will always be...

Christmas will always be in the hearts of God's children everywhere as they extend a helping hand to a friend in need.

--Jane Hillsmen

Christmas is doing...

Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.

--Charles Schulz

Christmas is a time to expand...

Christmas is a time to expand our giving encompassing the friendless and needy ... near and far. Christmas is sharing.

--Patricia Clafford

O little Lord of Christmas

By Henry Hallam Tweedy

On Christmas eve they filled the house, some fifty guests all told,
(O little Lord of Christmas, were You left out in the cold?)
And ate and sang, played cards and danced till early morning light.
(O little Lord of Christmas, did they think of You that night?)

Next morning came the presents on a glittering Christmas tree.
(O little Lord of Christmas, was there any gift for Thee?)
The dinner was a Roman feast, and how those guests did eat!
(O little Lord of Christmas, were You hungry in the street?)

Then came some teas, a movie, and at night the last revue.
(O little Lord of Christmas, what had these to do with You?)
By midnight all were tired and cross and tumbled into bed.
(O little Lord of Christmas, did they think that You were dead?)

They all woke up with headaches and no joy in work or play.
(O little Lord of Christmas, did they mark Your birth that day?)
The love, the joy were good, no doubt; the rest a pagan spree.
(O little Lord of Christmas, let us keep the day with Thee!)

Gifts of time and love...

Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.

--Peg Bracken

The Christmas Star

By Nancy Byrd Turner

High in the heavens a single star,
Of pure, imperishable light;
Out on the desert strange and far
Dim riders riding through the night:
Above a hilltop sudden song
Like silver trumpets down the sky--
And all to welcome One so young
He scarce could lift a cry!

Stars rise and set, that star shines on:
Songs fail, but still that music beats
Through all the ages come and gone,
In lane and field and city streets.
And we who catch the Christmas gleam,
Watching with children on the hill,
We know, we know it is no dream--
He stands among us still!

In the pure soul...

In the pure soul, whether it sing or pray,
The Christ is born anew from day to day.
The life that knoweth Him shall bide apart
And keep eternal Christmas in the heart.

--Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

The joy of brightening other lives...

The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others' burdens, easing other's loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas.

--W. C. Jones

Christmas gift suggestions...

Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.

--Oren Arnold

Christmas Day is a day of joy and charity...

Christmas Day is a day of joy and charity. May God make you very rich in both.

--Phillips Brooks

Living Christmas Each Day

Author unknown

Christmas is more than a day at the end of the year,
More than a season of joy and good cheer,
Christmas is really God's pattern for living
To be followed all year by unselfish giving...

For the holiday season awakens good cheer
And draws us closer to those we hold dear,
And we open our hearts and find it is good
To live among men as we always should...

But as soon as the tinsel is stripped from the tree
The spirit of Christmas fades silently
Into the background of daily routine
And is lost in the whirl of life's busy scene,

And all unawares, we miss and forego
The greatest blessing that mankind can know...
For if we lived Christmas each day, as we should,
And made it our aim to always do good,

We'd find the lost key to meaningful living
That comes not from getting, but from unselfish giving...
And we'd know the great joy of peace upon earth
Which was the real purpose of our Saviour's birth,

For in the glad tidings of the first Christmas night,
God showed us the Way and the Truth and the Light!

A Brother Like That

By Dan Clark

A friend of mine named Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it. "Is this your car, Mister?" he asked.

Paul nodded. "My brother gave it to me for Christmas."

The boy was astounded. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I wish…" He hesitated.

Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels.

"I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that."

Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then impulsively he added, "Would you like to take a ride in my automobile?"

"Oh yes, I'd love that!"

After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said, "Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?"

Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again. "Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked.

He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his crippled younger brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car.

"There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm gonna give you one just like it. … And then you can ride around and see for yourself all the things that I've been trying to tell you about."

Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride. That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when He said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Heap on the wood...

Heap on the wood!-the wind is chill;
But let it whistle as it will,
We'll keep our Christmas merry still.

--Sir Walter Scott

YouTube: Jesus--Silent Night

A musical montage of Jesus' birth

YouTube: The Biblical Christmas Story

Animated version of the biblical Christmas story.

Christmas is not as much about...

Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.

--Janice Maeditere

Sharing kindness at Christmas...

Sharing kindness at Christmas is good practice for the way we should be all the rest of the year.

--Maria Fontaine

Old Gentleman Gray

Author unknown

Said Old Gentleman Gray, "On Christmas Day,
If you want to be happy, give something away."

So he sent a fat turkey to shoemaker Price,
And the Shoemaker said, "What a big bird! How nice!
And since such a good dinner is now before me,
I'll send the roast I bought to poor Widow Lee."

"This is a fine roast! " said the pleased Widow Lee.
"And the kindness that sent it--how precious to me.
I would like to make someone as happy as I.
I'll send Washwoman Biddy my big pumpkin pie."

"Oh my," Biddy said. "`Tis the queen of all pies!
Just to look at its yellow face gladdens my eyes.
Now it's my turn, I think, and a nice chocolate cake
For the motherless Finnegan children I'll bake."

Said the Finnegan children, Rose, Denny and Hugh,
"Thank you so much, ma'am. How kind of you!
It smells sweet of spice, and we'll carry a slice
To poor lame Jake who has nothing that's nice."

"I thank you and thank you," said little lame Jake,
"For sharing with me your magnificent cake!
And in my basket, I'll save all of the crumbs
And give them to each little sparrow that comes."

And the sparrows they twittered as if they would say,
"We heard the tale from Old Gentleman Gray!
He started it all, saying, `On Christmas Day,
If you want to be happy, give something away.'"

Christmas is not just a day...

Christmas is not just a day, an event to be observed and speedily forgotten. It is a spirit which should permeate every part of our lives.

--William Parks

The Spirit of Christmas

By Henry Van Dyke

I am thinking of you today because it is Christmas, and I
wish you happiness.
And tomorrow, because it will be the day after Christmas,
I shall still wish you happiness.
I may not be able to tell you about it every day, because I
may be far away or we may be very busy.
But that makes no difference--my thoughts and my wishes
will be with you just the same.
Whatever joy or success comes to you will make me glad
clear through the year.
I wish you the spirit of Christmas.

Christmas Is...

By Ian Bach

A mother's love for her baby boy
A sacrifice to bring others joy
A father's care for one not his own
A message sent from a royal throne
A seeming wrong that was turned to right
An angel's song in the dark of night
A prophet's vision at last fulfilled
A miracle because God had willed
A gift of love from a caring heart
A bringing together what was apart
A reaching out to comprehend
How another felt by a sincere friend
A seeking soul that journeyed far
To find a dream, to follow a star
A bridegroom claiming a bride as his
All these things are what Christmas is.

My Christmas Miracle

By Taylor Caldwell

For many of us, one Christmas will stand out from all the others, the one when the meaning of the day shone clearest.

Although I did not guess it, my own "truest" Christmas began six months earlier on a rainy Spring day many years ago in the bleakest year of my life. I was recently divorced, I was in my 20s, had no job, and was on my way downtown to make the rounds of the employment offices. I had no umbrella, for my old one had fallen apart, and I could not afford another one. I sat down in the streetcar, and there against the seat was a beautiful silk umbrella with a silver handle inlaid with gold and flecks of bright enamel. I had never seen anything so lovely.

I examined the handle and saw a name engraved among the golden scrolls. The usual procedure would have been to turn in the umbrella to the conductor, but on impulse I decided to take it with me and find the owner myself. I got off the streetcar in a downpour and thankfully opened the umbrella to protect myself. Then I searched a telephone book for the name on the umbrella and found it. I called, and a lady answered.

Yes, she said in surprise, that was her umbrella, which her parents, now dead, had given her for a birthday present. But, she added, it had been stolen from her locker at school (she was a teacher) more than a year before. She was so excited that I forgot I was looking for a job and went directly to her small house. She took the umbrella, and her eyes filled with tears.

The teacher wanted to give me a reward, but--though $20 was all I had in the World--her happiness at retrieving this special possession was such that to have accepted money would have spoiled it. We talked for a while, and I must have given her my address. I don't remember.

The next six months were difficult. I was able to obtain only temporary employment here and there, for a small salary. But I put aside 25 or 50 cents when I could afford it for my little girl's Christmas presents. (It took me six months to save $8.) My last job ended the day before Christmas, my $30 rent was soon due, and I had $15 to my name--which Peggy and I would need for food. She was home from her convent boarding school and was excitedly looking forward to her gifts the next day, which I had already purchased. I had bought her a small tree, and we were going to decorate it that night.

The stormy air was full of the sound of Christmas merriment as I walked home to my small apartment. Bells rang, children shouted in the dusk of the evening, windows were lighted, and people were running and laughing. But as I struggled through the snowdrifts, I just about reached the lowest point of my life. Unless a miracle happened we would be homeless in January, foodless, jobless. I had prayed steadily for weeks, and there had been no answer but this coldness and darkness, this harsh air, this seeming abandonment. Had God and Man completely forgotten me? I felt old as death, and as lonely. What was to become of us?

I looked in my mailbox. There were only bills in it, and two white envelopes which I was sure contained more bills. Entering my home, I stood in the hallway and cried, shivering in my thin coat. But I made myself smile so I could greet my little daughter. She threw herself in my arms, screaming joyously and suggesting that we decorate the tree immediately.

Peggy was not yet six years old. She had proudly set our kitchen table for our evening meal, put pans out and the three cans of food which would be our dinner. For some reason, when I looked at those pans and cans, I felt brokenhearted. We would have only hamburgers for our Christmas dinner tomorrow, and gelatin. I stood in the cold little kitchen, and misery overwhelmed me. For the first time in my life, I doubted the existence of God and His mercy, and the coldness in my heart was colder than ice.

The doorbell rang. It was a delivery man, and his arms were full of big parcels, and he was laughing at my child's frenzied joy as she stood beside me at the door. "This is a mistake," I said, but he read my name on the parcels, and they were for me. When he had gone I could only stare at the boxes. Peggy and I sat on the floor and opened them. A huge doll, three times the size of the one I had bought for her. Gloves. Candy. A beautiful leather purse. Incredible! I looked for the name of the sender. It was the teacher, the address simply "California," where she had moved.

Our dinner that night was the most delicious I had ever eaten. I could only pray, "Thank You, Father." I forgot I had no money for the rent and only $15 in my purse and no job. My child and I ate and laughed together in happiness. Then we decorated the little tree and marvelled at it. I put Peggy to bed and set up her gifts around the tree, and a sweet peace flooded me like a benediction [3]. I had hope again. I could even examine the bills without cringing. Then I opened the two white envelopes. One contained a cheque for $30 from a company I had worked for briefly in the Summer. It was, said a note, my "Christmas bonus." My rent!

The other envelope was an offer of a permanent position with the government--to begin two days after Christmas. I sat with the letter in my hand and the cheque on the table before me, and I think that was the most joyful moment of my life up to that time.

The church bells began to ring. I hurriedly looked at my child, who was sleeping blissfully, and went to the door and gazed out onto the street. People smiled at me and I smiled back. The storm had stopped, the sky was pure and glittering with stars.

"The Lord is born," sang the bells to the crystal night and the laughing darkness. Someone began to sing, "Come, all ye faithful!" I joined in, and standing on the doorstep, sang with the strangers all about me.

I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all.

And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Even when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the World seemingly most indifferent, He never forgets us.