Christmas all year long

by Tami Rudkin
Wednesday, December 26, 2007 11:56 AM MST

Finally I have a minute.

Our gifts have been enthusiastically opened, proudly displayed and neatly put away. The food has been devoured, the house picked up and the Christmas CDs tucked away for next year.

And now, over a cup of cocoa, I am reading those Christmas cards and letters we received, but didn’t have time to thoroughly enjoy.

I love the messages of holiday cheer and goodwill printed against the backdrop of snowy scenes and fresh-cut holly and the tiny baby Jesus.

“Wishing you a beautiful holiday season and a New Year of peace and happiness.”

“May the Giver of love bless you this Christmas season and in the coming year.”

“May the Christ of Christmas fill your life with hope, your soul with peace, and your heart with song.”

“A Christmas wish … hope in your hearts, peace on our Earth, and joy to all of us!”

Those are but a few words of holiday prose that were sent our way. However, the following was sent in the text of a Christmas letter written by my aunt and uncle. Their friend, Derric Johnson, so poignantly wrote these moving words:

“When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock,

then the work of Christmas begins:

to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoners, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among brothers, to make music in the heart.”

The birth of Jesus 2,000 years ago was the gift celebrated by magnificent angels, common shepherds, the wise and rich and by the trusted couple chosen by God.

But the moments of celebration didn’t last forever. In fact, how long did the angels sing? Minutes? Perhaps.

How long were the shepherds away from their flocks? Hours? Maybe.

The wealthy kings spent days, maybe months, on the journey to find the infant king, but how long did they bow in worship? Moments, hours, days?

Who knows.

The birth was just the beginning of a great work in and for mankind. God didn’t send his son to stun the people with splendor. If that had been the case, the angels would have proclaimed the message at the temple or Jesus would have come into Jerusalem riding a stallion flanked by imposing armies of great prowess.

Instead, God sent his son to love the masses.

And love is work. Love is searching for those lost in a tempest sea of suffering. Love is healing those broken by poor choices and circumstances beyond their control.

Love is feeding those starving for acceptance and approval. Love is taking the key of forgiveness and unlocking the shackles of sin that has held so many prisoners.

Love is rebuilding trust and seeing value in those who don’t live inside our worlds. Love is building bridges of peace to those we have alienated by bitter words and damaged thoughts.

Love is making things right, looking people in the face and whispering, “I care about you.” Love is the music of the heart.

God sent his son to demonstrate his great love for you and me. It wasn’t about a baby in a manger; it was about a man of love living his life to restore ours.

Christmas isn’t about beautifully wrapped gifts, or Christmas trees or even family gatherings. Christmas, the real Christmas, is about living each day, in love, like Jesus did.

So, remember with fondness the season of Christ’s birth, but don’t just sit there … get to work living Christmas all year long.

(Larry and Linda Kloster sponsor this column.)

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