[Nfbf-l] ESPECIALLY AT CHRISTMAS

[Alan Dicey]

ESPECIALLY AT CHRISTMAS
By Joseph Walker
OK, so maybe I was a little edgy. After all, I was only 19, it was my first 
Christmas away from home, and I was feeling a little... empty. Besides, I 
think the weather in San Diego was starting to get to me. I mean, how much 
"balmy and beautiful" can you take? Especially at Christmas.

Then I got a letter from The Girl Back Home, which was usually great. Only 
this time she wrote about her Senior Prom. Sure, we said she should date 
others while I was gone. But couldn't she have just gone to the stupid dance 
and not told me?

And then, to top it off, my roommate Dennis and I went to do a little 
shopping, and the Santa at the mall was wearing (are you ready for this?) a 
red t-shirt and Bermuda shorts.

Bermuda shorts, for Pete's sake! No wonder we were both so uptight.

We wandered around the mall, completely surrounded by the sights and sounds 
of the season, and totally oblivious to them. It was Christmas, but we 
weren't feeling Christmassy. At least, not until we noticed a little sobbing 
girl, standing by one of Santa's elves. For no particular reason, I drifted 
over and asked if everything was OK.

"She's lost," the elf said, "but I can't leave Santa alone here." The elf 
looked me up and down. Evidently I passed, because he/she/it asked: "Could 
you help her find her Mom?"

How could we say no, especially at Christmas? So Dennis and I each took a 
little hand in ours. We made a quick run through the shopping center, 
including a stop at the candy store. Outside the manager's office, we 
connected with a frantic mother, who offered a monetary reward for our 
efforts.

"No thanks," said Dennis, who was smiling as happily as I had seen him smile 
all day. "You just have a Merry Christmas, OK?"

That simple act of service infused both of us with such joyful energy that 
we started looking for others to help. We found shoppers, who needed help 
carrying gifts to their cars. We stood in line to see Santa with two kids 
while their mom slipped into the toy store. I even tried on pants for a 
woman, who insisted I was the exact same size as her son.

Dennis and I chatted excitedly as we drove away from the shopping center 
that evening. We had discovered what was missing from Christmas, and it 
didn't have anything to do with snow, senior proms or Bermuda shorts. The 
quickest way to minimize our own burdens and concerns, we decided, was to 
lighten someone else's.

So we spent the rest of the holiday season looking for ways to help people. 
Usually it was just little stuff. Occasionally it required creativity, like 
the man who wanted his kids to receive a phone call from Santa... And me 
with a voice still emerging from puberty. But always it had more to do with 
giving of ourselves than of our means.

And you know what? It was the best Christmas I ever had... Even though I 
can't for the life of me remember a single gift I received that year.

Of course, what seemed like such a revelation to us is really something that 
others have understood for centuries. Christmas isn't about presents, it's 
about giving. And it doesn't come from the wallet or the purse, it comes 
from the heart.

The Christmas Spirit was first kindled hundreds of years ago in a lowly 
stable as a result of a divine gift of love. We honor and keep that Spirit 
best through our own commitment to caring, sharing and service to each 
other. And not just at Christmas, but especially at Christmas.

--Joe Walker joseph at josephbwalker.com
----------------------------------

Joe lives in Utah with his lovely bride, Anita. He writes the weekly column, 
ValueSpeak.
====================