So, if Christmas were a person ( an anthropomorphic personification!!)...what would he/ she look like?
If it were a smell, what would it smell like?
If it were food, what would it taste like?
If it were a song, what song would it be?
The reason I ask, and I am interested in your responses, is that when a cross section of our church community were asked, What does the Joy of Christmas mean to you?, they all more or less said the same thing and it referred to children and presents.
So my final question to ponder is that very question.
What does the Joy of Christmas mean to you?
Travelling home from an engagement this afternoon, I was listening to the radio and heard some rapper, soz, don't know his name, tell the story 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' - the Dr Suess kids classic tale!
He kind of experiences a conversion at the end of the story and the only thing it is put down to is The Spirit Of Christmas.
And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!"
It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"
Hmmm....
4 comments:
If it were a smell it would be pine. What i think the joy of christmas is is the sense of community that it brings. i do not think the corps feels like more of a family then it does at christmas time. its the reason we are what we are and it brings people closer. thats what i like about christmas xxx
It's interesting. At our school Christmas church service last week, the year 5 and 6 children presented their 'Gift of Christmas' ideas. Now obviously they were encourage to think about 'gifts you can't buy': joy, hope, peace etc but still, the actual words came from the children. The children chosen to share were the ones whom the teachers felt really meant what they had written and it was so touching. To sit in that church with so many parents who had simply come to observe was simply a gift in itself. I do hope they took something away with them, other than the simply pleasure of watching their child. Those children truely felt that there was more than simply ripping paper off a present and got to the grass roots of why Jesus came - figuring out how they, in their small way could reach out to someone and make a difference this Christmas.
Every Christmas I feel I have wasted opportuities to stand up for the 'true meaning of Christmas'. And this one is no different.
I go out of my way to buy Christmas cards that have religious significance, I have a nativity scene in my classroom, but...so what????
This Christmas for me, is about my family, more than ever. Making sure they know how much I love them and want to be with them.
I guess the joy of Christmas to me is realising that despite knowing the trials that His Son would go through, God still sent Him....for lil' ol' me.
And I guess the joy of Christmas to me is recognising that God chose a Mary, an ordinary girl, to have that most amazing responsiblity and honour of bringing Him into the world.
But I guess more than that, the Joy of Christmas for me is remembering that there would be no Christmas without Christ, and therefore we have an obligation to share that reason with people who simply don't know.
That obligation and opportunity should have us overflowing with Chritmas Joy.
(I feel a band piece coming on!)
Well, I'm crying here!
I felt emotion creeping up on me on Sunday and couldn't put my finger on why.
It may have been that Keith wasn't at Church, and I knew that a friend who wasn't there either would be having a tough day!
I love what you've both said - thank you!
For me, Christmas would look like an ordinary person, with a special twinkle in their eye, like they know an amazing secret and are just bursting to tell it.
The smell would be Christmas Pudding!
The taste would be plain chocolate - honestly, what else?
The Song - can I have two please?
Hark the Herald Angels and Deck the Halls!
The Joy of Christmas - the opportunity it gives to chat to complete strangers when collecting with the band. I'm rubbish at getting money,cos I talk too much, but people just want to share - I really love that!
The joy of Christmas. Hmm, interesting one. I have been thinking about this since Sunday too.
I guess for me there are three main things this year that fill me with the 'joy of Christmas'.
1) Lee and Tracey are sharing Christmas day with us. I love that, its really special when we have them there too. Plus - there is the excitment of baby Caffull being on its way.
2) Seeing the love and capacity for love within other people. I guess, like with Liz, collecting is a time when I feel this the most. It is in people giving so generously, the way that some people just want to come and chat and have someone to talk to, the way that people love being able to tell you that they used to be part of, or were once helped by the Salvation Army. I especially love it when as people donate, they feel no need for words, they just look at you with gratitude and hope in their eyes, and tap the tin as they put the money in, or squeeze your hand for a second, or something - just a tiny acknowledgment that they believe in what we are trying to do. Even better, when a little old man comes up to you with tears in his eyes, and joy on his face to tell you that he has recently been fitted with a digital hearing aid, and that this is the first time he has been able to hear the Salvation Army band play in 17 years. I praise God for the joy that the band bought to that man, and just pray that he will see God in the message that they bought, and that somehow God will show him the even greater joy of the salvation that can be found in Him.
3) On my blog, I recently wrote a post, 'surprised by beauty', where I described the way that Shirley Salvation Army represented the angels bringing the good news. I think that for me is my 'joy' this year. Knowing that when the angels told of the good news of the coming of Jesus into the world it was with true joy and excitment. They were truly glorifying and praising God - there was anticipation and joy in the fact that God was about to do something incredible. I think my joy comes in knowing that I can share that moment with the angels. When I praise and glorify God, I am actually joining in with the angels. I am not alone in that - there is a whole host of heavenly angels worshipping God truly from the heart - and constantly. I guess I get frustrated a lot with half-heartedness, my own more than any other, and there is joy in knowing that, where the angels are concerned, there is no half-hearted worship. It is real, and deep, and completely God-honouring.
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