A Christmas Card

Many of us receive and send out Christmas cards. They are a great and simple way of keeping in touch with our friends and family. Many times these days, with the advent of digital photography and printing, we can even send out pictures of our friends and family.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that oftentimes, the cards come in, stack up, and I really don’t pay a ton of attention as to whom they are from.

I received a card from a friend of mine the other day, however, that really made me pause.

You see, this friend of mine owns a small country store in an area that is in many ways depressed economically. He has struggled to make it with this store ever since he opened the doors, as there has never really been a high enough volume of business to really make it profitable. Add to this that my friend is not originally from this country, and doesn’t speak fluent English, and well, you’re probably getting the picture that its been an uphill battle for him.

Most days, since he really cannot afford to pay for any real hired help, he has to work the store himself, open to close. The hours are so very long, and I’m sure that most days he arrives home completely exhausted, and spent from another day of toiling seemingly for not much.

And, yet, this man who doesn’t have much in the way of material wealth and who has even less in the way of time, found the time to send me a Christmas card this year. The card didn’t say much, just a heartfelt appreciation of my friendship, and his signature. And yet, this relatively simple card meant probably as much or more than any Christmas card I’ve ever received.

It meant a lot because I know this man has very little to give, except his appreciation for his friends. And, I know that pains him, because he’d love to be in a position where he can give more. But, no gift, no matter what the price tag or how fantastic it might be, would ever really top the gift of this simple Christmas card he mailed to me.

He took the time to do it, because it was really all he could give: His time. And, it meant so much to me, because in spite of the fact that he can’t afford to give much at all, he gave what is most important, and most limited to him…namely, his time to remember me.

How often do we agonize over finding the perfect give during Christmas for a loved one or friend? Plenty. And yet, its often the simplest of gifts, at least on the surface, that make the most impact.

It’s a smile to someone who is down, when we don’t really feel like smiling. It’s our time, when we feel like we have none to give. It’s a friendly word to a friend who is down on their luck, when we ourselves need a friendly word. It’s listening to your spouse or loved one talk about their troubles, when what you really need is a shrink to hear yours.

These are all truly gifts, and gifts we can all give one another. They’re free insomuch as there isn’t any real monetary value associated with them. But, they do cost sometimes, because we may not feel all that giving when we are called upon to do so.

When we give of our time, love, and energy, what we are really demonstrating is God’s love for us all. God wants us to love one another; perhaps above all else he wants that for us. When we take the time to do this, I know He’s smiling somewhere.

So, think you have nothing to give this Christmas season? Go buy your friend a Christmas card, and send it. You have no idea the impact it will make.

I sure was surprised.

-The Minister

The Meaning of Christmas

Christmas time is indeed upon us. And, with the arrival of this festive season comes the deluge of the holiday movies. Many of us are suckers for these each and every year.

Oh sure, there are the timeless classics like “It’s a Wonderful Life”, but there are also the ones featuring stars we’ve never heard of in formula-driven romantic comedies. All of these movies, sappy and schmaltz-filled though they may be, do tend to at least dance near the real meaning of Christmas, whether its stated or not.

All my life, I’ve been taught, and then repeatedly told, what the real meaning of the season is. Which, for Christians, is the birth of the savior of mankind, Jesus Christ.

But for me, certainly lately, its taken on an entirely different meaning.

For me, the concept of God taking human form, and then humbling Himself to be placed in a lowly manger, surrounded not by kings, but by animals, is a very powerful notion. I can’t imagine a more loving Creator than one who decides He’s going to live as a human being, as one of us, to experience our pains, our challenges, so that He may know fully what it is to be human.

What it says, and thus means, to me these days is simply this: We are not alone. No my friends, we have a Creator who loved us…and still loves us…so much, that He lived among us. He walked as we walk, saw as we saw, and ultimately, felt enormous pain as we feel, only ten times worse in His case. Finally, He died as we all will die. Only, His death was a new beginning for mankind.

His spirit lives among us now. We see it in a friend’s smile, feel it in a loved one’s touch, hear it in laughter, and know it in quiet moments in nature.

We are never alone, in this sometimes bleak world. When I wrote that the holiday movies at least dance near this fact, well, they do. Most of them involve people finding each other and becoming more whole because of it. That’s indeed what God does, finds us, walks with us, and heals us, helping us become more whole. That, to me, is what Christmas is all about: An end to being alone.

I’ve heard it said, and I’m paraphrasing here, that “…if only we knew who walked beside us…” we would never fear or feel loneliness again.

Truer words have never been spoken.

-The Minister

Funerals

I attended the funeral for the father of a good friend of mine last week. This friend’s dad had shown me a great amount of kindness at a time when I needed it, and I never forgot that. He was a good man, who unfortunately had to suffer the ravages of cancer before he passed on to greener pastures.

I’ve often been struck at funerals by a sense of peace. Oh, to be sure, there is also a sense of great grief and of sadness as well. But, in most cases, I feel a sense of peace, that the departed is going home to be with the One who created him.

I got that same feeling again, during a remarkably calm and peaceful service, and I knew that my friend’s father was indeed well on his way home.
What struck me most about this particular service, however, was what happened after the service. My friend didn’t know that I was attending the service, as it had been a whirlwind after his father’s death, and we just hadn’t really touched base about it. As I went up to him to offer my condolences after the funeral, I touched him on the shoulder from behind, and he spun around in surprise at seeing me there.

Then, a wonderful thing happened. Instead of the usual shaking of hands that most guys do, we just hugged one another in a very spontaneous display of both grief, and joy that the long battle with cancer was all over. Nothing much was said between us, and honestly, nothing much needed to be said. There was an understanding between us that everything was going to be all right, and that as long as a person has friends, he is never truly alone.

The moment lasted but a handful of seconds, but it is a moment I will never truly forget.

For you see, in that moment alone, I believe the two of us transferred to each other God’s entire hopes and dreams for our species, namely, to love one another, and by so doing, love God. That’s truly all God wants. We tend to complicate it, by building hierarchies and bureaucracies around this message, so that it gets harder and harder to hear sometimes.

For my friend and me, for that moment, we heard the message loud and clear.

Love one another friends. I truly believe its all He really wants out of us.

-The Minister