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The True Spirit of Christmas<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cSo faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.\u201d 1 Corinthians Chapter 13<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Winter has arrived ahead of schedule this year. Tonight, I look out my window and see softly falling flakes of snow drifting in the dim light of the old lamp post in my front yard. How many times I\u2019ve looked out and seen this same winterscape I cannot count. I wonder how many times I\u2019ve looked at the same scene and went about whatever business seemed important to me at the time. And how many times I\u2019ve never really seen anything at all as life passed by me and I never really saw anything – at all.<\/span><\/p>\n But tonight, I\u2019m feeling wistful and pensive. Not sad. Just thoughtful. Life is flowing by faster than I ever imagined it could. I suppose none of us at age twenty can really calculate the value of time. Seasons come and go so quickly now. And… here it is Christmastime again. For some reason, it really felt strange to me tonight when I realized that Christmas is just a week away.<\/span><\/p>\n When I was a child a whole week to wait for Christmas to arrive seemed like forever. And counting down the days and hours made it seem even longer. But Christmas did come \u2013 it came and went. It has come and gone so many times and now here I am, many years older. I am not sure, however, that I am many years wiser.<\/span><\/p>\n Just a week until Christmas. It will come and go in the blink of an eye.<\/span><\/p>\n As I look back at Christmases past, the ones I remember most are the ones where I had the least. Perhaps the lavish gifts of the more prosperous years got in the way of the greatest gift of all. Maybe I buried the greatest gift under mountains of gaily wrapped presents. You know the kind of presents I mean — those gifts bring a smile when opened but soon find their way into the dark, forgotten corners of cluttered closets and corners of musty basements… the ones that eventually end up discarded – unceremoniously tossed in the trash.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s such a challenging time now for younger people in the world. It\u2019s hard to recognize the greatest gift when television commercials teach us that we can buy someone\u2019s love with something as cheap as a diamond. What is the value of love if it has to be purchased?<\/span><\/p>\n And sadly, it\u2019s true \u2013 sometimes it’s a challenge to look past the gaudy glitter and to see and feel the true spirit of Christmas. But the true spirit of Christmas is like the wind — just because we cannot see it, does not mean it is not there. If you keep Christmas in your heart then Christmas will be everywhere you go.<\/span><\/p>\n Christmas is almost here. And whether anyone believes in Christmas or not, does not matter to me. I believe in Christmas. And you’re like me, and you believe in the true spirit of Christmas, Christmas will live on despite those who try so hard to change it – or destroy it.<\/span><\/p>\n It falls upon those of us who still believe in the true spirit of Christmas to keep the eternal Torch of Christmas burning for our generation and all the generations to come.\u00a0 If we do that then the glow from that torch will continue to light the world – not only at Christmastime but always. <\/span><\/p>\n And all we must do is keep that torch burning, and never, ever, let it grow dim.<\/span><\/p>\n Over two thousand years ago a child was born in Bethlehem and during His brief time upon this earth, He taught everyone, believer, and non-believer alike, the same simple yet profound lesson:<\/span><\/p>\n Love others as you love yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n Let this Christmas be an example. Keep the torch of Christmas burning and keep the true spirit of Christmas alive.\u00a0 It really doesn\u2019t matter what anyone else thinks, it only matters what you think. <\/span><\/p>\n Say \u201cMerry Christmas\u201d sincerely and say it with a smile, and you\u2019ll keep the Spirit of Christmas alive.<\/span><\/p>\n Keep the spirit of Christmas alive inside of you and take it with you wherever you go. Love those who do not believe as you do as much as you love those who do.<\/span><\/p>\n Be cheerful and compassionate; be understanding of others and have faith. Let the world see the Christmas spirit glow from within you and let that glow light the world.<\/span><\/p>\n Be gentle, be kind, be understanding; be of good cheer. Remember the Reason for Christmas. Celebrate Christmas in your own tradition and in your own way because that\u2019s what makes it special to you. Always remember those who are less fortunate than you and help them whenever and as much as you can. Always keep them in your heart and your prayers.<\/span><\/p>\n Remember always that the greatest gift you can ever give is the gift of love. <\/span><\/p>\n Love is the greatest gift of all.<\/span><\/p>\n Carry the spirit of Christmas with you and light the way for others. Say \u201cMerry Christmas\u201d and really mean it.<\/span><\/p>\n Long ago Jesus came into this world and showed the world His love and brought His message of peace to all those who listened. Honor Him this Christmas the way He wants you to… Show the world your love and you can be the true spirit of Christmas.<\/span><\/p>\n Be a bearer of good tidings and goodwill to everyone \u2013 not just those you love or those who love you. You can keep the Spirit of Christmas alive. Do it for yourself, do it for your children, and do it for their children. Future generations depend on all of us who hold Christmas in our hearts and keep the spirit of Christmas alive.<\/span><\/p>\n Over two thousand years ago, the Star of Bethlehem shone brightly for all the world to see. This Christmas let the true spirit of Christmas within you shine for all the world see.<\/span><\/p>\n This year, the first gift you give the greatest gift of all – give the gift of love.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLove is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, love is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things\u2026. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.\u201d 1 Corinthians Chapter 13<\/span><\/p>\n May you and those you love have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS filled with love and joy – and the true spirit of Christmas. <\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Have a safe and happy holiday season!<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The True Spirit of Christmas \u201cSo faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.\u201d 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 Winter has arrived ahead of schedule this year. Tonight, I look out my window and see softly falling flakes of snow drifting in the dim light of the old lamp post in my\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[228,1741,2273],"tags":[2031,4132],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20516"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20516"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20532,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20516\/revisions\/20532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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