Love, the strongest thing...

Christmas... what a mixture of emotional thoughts... It comes each year but we all see and experience it differently. Yet, there is something about the birth of Jesus that moves us. It reaches the very depth of our soul. I think it is because it doesn't stop there. We watch Jesus, grow from a little baby lying in a manger to a young boy hanging out in the Jewish Synagogues. We watch Him work beside His earthly father as a carpenter and we see Him walk along the shores of Galilee calling His disciples to follow Him. We watch Him love and care for the sick and bring the dead back to life again. We look on as He gathers the little children on his lap and blesses each one. And we can only stand and gaze in agony as He takes my sin and yours, and the sins of the world upon Him as He carries His own cross to Golgatha.

It is hard to look at this tiny little baby and see Him nailed to a cross for us. But had he not given his life, there would be no celebration each year. It would just be an ordinary birth on an ordinary day. The sacrifice He made lives in our hearts today and is the reason we hold Christmas so dear to our hearts. It is the reason we give to the poor, we gather together, we are moved to acts of kindness not even thought about throughout the rest of the year. I believe it is the time of year that a lot of people experience the love of God.

But Satan is also aware of the impact it has on our lives. His trick is to have us so busy with all that has to be done, it puts us under great stress. We can be so busy with the preparations of Christmas that we miss what our heart wishes to celebrate. Hurt feelings, anxiety, anger, impatience, even self- centeredness and loneliness can blind us to seeing the glory of Christmas and the birth of Jesus.

We need to slow down, even skid to a stop if we need to and reflect and think on what is important to us. Really, the best gift we can give to anyone is the gift of Christ in our hearts, His love, His compassion, His mercy and His joy.

"Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world... stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death... and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas." Henry Van Dyke 1896