“So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians Chapter 13<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\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’ve looked out and seen this same winterscape I cannot count. I wonder how many times I’ve looked at nearly the same scene and went about whatever business seemed important to me at the time. And how many times I’ve 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’m feeling wistful and pensive. Not sad. Just thoughtful. I guess life is flowing by faster than I ever imagined it would. I suppose none of us at when we’re young can imagine the value of time. <\/span><\/p>\n Seasons come and go so quickly now. And here it is Christmas Eve.\u00a0 And, it really feels strange to think that Christmas is here already… again.<\/span><\/p>\n When I was a child a whole week to wait for Christmas to arrive seemed a painfully long time. Counting down the days and hours made it seem even longer. But Christmas did come – it came and went; it came and went so many times and now here I am, decades older, and hopefully, many years wiser, looking back over all those Christmases past.\u00a0<\/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 other less important gifts. You know the ones… those gifts that soon find their way into the dark, forgotten corners of cluttered closets and eventually make their way to the landfill?<\/span><\/p>\n It’s such a difficult time now for the children in our world. It’s hard to recognize the greatest gift when television commercials try to teach us that we can buy someone’s love. With social media full of influencers – not always influencing for the good. Social media — where many of our young people spend most of their young lives. Can that really be a good thing?<\/span><\/p>\n With all the distractions in today’s world, it’s sometimes very hard to see any evidence of the true Spirit or the true meaning of Christmas anywhere. But, the Spirit of Christmas is like the wind… just because we cannot see it, does not mean it is not there. I<\/span><\/p>\n f you keep Christmas in your heart, then Christmas will be everywhere you are.<\/span><\/p>\n Christmas is here again. And whether or not anyone believes in Christmas, does not matter to me. I believe in Christmas. Those of us who believe in Christmas will keep Christmas alive despite those who seem bent on destroying it or trying to turn it into a pagan festival.<\/span><\/p>\n It falls upon those of us who believe in Christmas to keep the bright torch of Christmas burning for this generation and the next. I am certain that if we do, the glow from that fire will light the world. All we have to 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 short time upon this earth, He taught everyone, believer and non-believer alike, the same lesson: Love others as you love yourself. If someone despises you – love them anyway.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Keep the torch of Christmas burning. It really doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks; it only matters what you think. Say “Merry Christmas” with a smile and you’ll keep the Spirit of Christmas alive and you will be helping to keep Christmas alive for those who are yet to be born.<\/span><\/p>\n Be cheerful and compassionate. Be understanding of others and have faith. Let the world see your Christmas spirit and let the glow of that fire within you light the world.<\/span><\/p>\n Be gentle, be kind, and always be tolerant of others who do not believe as you do – in today’s world, there will be many. Be of good cheer. Remember the Reason for Christmas. Celebrate Christmas in your own way, with your own traditions, because that’s what makes it special to you. <\/span><\/p>\n And always take time to remember those who are less fortunate than you — and help them as much as you can.<\/span><\/p>\n Remember above all that the greatest gift you can give this Christmas is the gift of love.<\/span><\/p>\n May the spirit of Christmas live within you and light the way for others. Say “Merry Christmas” and really mean it.\u00a0 May this always be the season of love and peace. Long ago Jesus came into this world and showed the world His love and brought His message of peace and love to all who would listen. <\/span><\/p>\n Honor Him this Christmas by showing the world your love and kindness. You can be the spirit of Christmas.<\/span><\/p>\n Be the bearer of good tidings and goodwill to everyone – not just those you love. You can keep the Spirit of Christmas alive. Do it for yourself, do it for your children, and do it for their children. <\/span><\/p>\n Future generations depend on all of us who hold Christmas dear to 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. May the Spirit of Christmas within you shine just as brightly as that star –\u00a0 so all the world can see.<\/span><\/p>\n This Christmas make the very first gift you give the gift of love.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n “Love 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…. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” [1 Corinthians Chapter 13]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n In the Spirit of Christmas “So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 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],"tags":[2010],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22726"}],"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=22726"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22731,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22726\/revisions\/22731"}],"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=22726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"MERRY](\"https:\/\/thundercloud.net\/infoave\/images\/2022\/merry2021.png\")
Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas!<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"