"This Christmas, as the spirit of the season permeates our hearts, let us do something that expresses our feelings in an outward way, showing that we understand that the babe born in Bethlehem is the real Redeemer. President Howard W. Hunter (1907–95) gave some practical advice that helps us do that:
“This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again.”
Without Christ, there would be no Christmas. Without Christ, there can be no fulness of joy. Without His birth and His Atonement, we would have no Intercessor, no Advocate with the Father, and no Mediator who makes it possible for us to return to the presence of our loving Heavenly Father and live together as eternal families."
I for one am truly grateful for the spirit of Christ this season. I am grateful for how this season brings families together. I am grateful for the attitude of service & love. I am grateful for the remembrance of a sweet babe in a manger and for his mother, Mary, and their story of the birth of a King. I am grateful to know how significant that day was.
But even with all that knowledge, I have struggled this season. As you know, the end of this year was … different. Our normal way of life has been uprooted and we have altered the lives of other people along the way. We are still trying to sort things out, yet we are moving forward even if at sluggish speed. It is hard waiting. It is hard to make sense of life when you feel so much is out of your control. What I think of spiritual matters has not changed, but I struggle to understand those spiritual matters and where I fit in. What is our purpose? What should I be doing? All too often I think of all the things I could do if things were different, and at the same time, I know that statement is not properly focused. I can do much now regardless of my own personal circumstances. Yes, I may have to adjust some of those things I thought I wanted to do, but if I am truly being obedient, then I should be prepared to make the most of anything. But it is hard to take the focus off the constant knocking of my own circumstances, and turn it towards serving others. I like knowing my own situation is set before I take on someone else's adventures. Yet again, I know that isn't always how the Lord works. Sometimes the best lessons of faith and sacrifice involve trusting the Lord to complete the task when our own hands feel inadequate. I know I am gaining an understanding I never would have previously fully understood. And I hope and pray my life is being pushed closer to the Savior.
I know I'm posting my Christmas posts a little later due to several factors, but hopefully the spirit of Christmas continues on throughout the year. I really appreciated the following talk and video with regards to our Savior and our purpose:
Are We Not All Beggars? - By Elder Jeffrey R Holland
"We don’t know all the details of His temporal life, but He once said, “Foxes have holes, and … birds … have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” Apparently the Creator of heaven and earth “and all things that in them are”3 was, at least in His adult life, homeless.
For one thing, we can, as King Benjamin taught, cease withholding our means because we see the poor as having brought their misery upon themselves. Perhaps some have created their own difficulties, but don’t the rest of us do exactly the same thing? Isn’t that why this compassionate ruler asks, “Are we not all beggars?”11 Don’t we all cry out for help and hope and answers to prayers? Don’t we all beg for forgiveness for mistakes we have made and troubles we have caused? Don’t we all implore that grace will compensate for our weaknesses, that mercy will triumph over justice at least in our case? Little wonder that King Benjamin says we obtain a remission of our sins by pleading to God, who compassionately responds, but we retain a remission of our sins by compassionately responding to the poor who plead to us."
I've come to realize it is hard to recognize what means we truly have or what is reasonable to give.
"I reassure you that my reverence for principles of industry, thrift, self-reliance, and ambition is as strong as that of any man or woman alive. We are always expected to help ourselves before we seek help from others. Furthermore, I don’t know exactly how each of you should fulfill your obligation to those who do not or cannot always help themselves. But I know that God knows, and He will help you and guide you in compassionate acts of discipleship if you are conscientiously wanting and praying and looking for ways to keep a commandment He has given us again and again."
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