[Nfbf-l] ESPECIALLY AT CHRISTMAS
Alan Dicey
adicey at bellsouth.net
Mon Dec 17 18:09:17 UTC 2012
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
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Joe lives in Utah with his lovely bride, Anita. He writes the weekly column,
ValueSpeak.
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