"Christmas Every Day!"

When I ask people, “How was your Christmas?” they often reply, “it was nice, but to tell you the truth, I am glad it’s over!” I think many of us know exactly what they mean.

Have you ever wondered, however, what it might be like to try and keep Christmas every day of the year? Henry Van Dyke, the versatile Presbyterian minister, lecturer, and writer who in 1896 wrote the Christmas fantasy, “The Other Wise Man”, also wrote “Keeping Christmas”. Here is a taste of what he wrote:

“There is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day, and that is, keeping Christmas.

Are you willing…

·       To forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you;

·       To ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe the world;

·       To see that men and women are just as real as you are, and to try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy;

·       To close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness.

·       To stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough?

Are you willing to do these things, if so, then you can keep Christmas, and if you can keep it for a day, why not always?”

Soon all the sights and sounds of Christmas will be packed away for another year. Yet, the purest and best part of Christmas celebrations can be kept alive every day. Alive in me and alive in you.