CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

Christmas is coming!  


And with it once again the joyous excitement surrounding Christ’s birth which was heralded by singing angels, marked by a star that led the way, and was manifested by shepherds who made this glorious news known to all around them.  Sharing the good news of the Savior is a big theme of the Nativity story.
  

In a world that is becoming more and more secular, we can still declare the same glad tidings about Jesus Christ.  This month as we focus even more on the Savior, think of a special memory or a Christmas tradition that reminds you of Christ.  Then share it with your family, your neighbors when you “visit over the fence”, your co-workers, or on your Facebook blog.  Or in all these ways!


Here is my special memory that grew into a Christmas tradition:

Over 45 years ago I had an opportunity to teach a lesson at Church about the birth of the Savior.  I was just a young mother with two toddler boys, but I was transformed with what I studied from the New Testament—along with the music, art, and literature—about this one, wonderful night that changed the world.  My whole outlook about Christmas took a major shift toward the real meaning of the holiday.  


One consequence of that was my quest for the “perfect” Nativity set.  One that was far beyond our means at that time just wasn’t going to materialize.  So, we made our own little scene with the resources at hand—twigs from the tree in the back yard, little figures with painted bead heads which we dressed in scraps from my sewing basket, and animals from the kids’ farm set.


Thus began my long history of collecting Nativity sets.  Happily, I have found the “perfect” one many times over in a variety of different depictions, all of which I enjoy displaying and sharing (now every other year) in an open house for my neighbors and friends.  


What a wonderful spirit of love and true Christmas cheer permeates my home during this time.  I really enjoy placing each individual figure into its particular scene.  Through all my decorating and repurposing those Nativity figures, I never fail to marvel at the countless ways artists and craftsmen have borne testimony of Christ through their work.  Best of all, this happy endeavor strengthens my own testimony of Jesus Christ.

A wonderful addition to our Christmas celebration this year is a brand new video about the birth of Christ.


The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints produced a new Christmas video which debuted on November 24^th.  Titled “The Christ Child”, it is about 18 minutes long with a cast of real people depicting the details about Christ’s birth both in the scriptures and with several added cultural and historical details.  It is amazing!  You can stream it or download it at LightTheWorld.org.  Invite someone to watch it with you in your home.  It will be a memorable time for everyone present.


Denver is also one of ten cities throughout the world which has been chosen as a location for a Light the World Giving Machine, also sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It is a vending machine with a Christmas twist which—instead of candy bars or soft drinks—contains a variety of charitable contributions from which to choose.  What a great way to serve others and fun for kids to select which charity they want to donate to.  

These items and services at the Denver Giving Machine are unique to the Denver area, determined and requested by local and global charity partners.  Using the machine is easy, and 100 percent of donations will be used to purchase the items donors select.  It will be open daily November 26-January 1, from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m., at Writer Square (1512 Larimer Street #300).  Plan a fun trip to downtown Denver and “buy” some charity!  If you are reading this blog. and you are not in Denver, go to LightThe World.org to find out how you can also contribute to this Christmas initiative.


Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, 

“Christmas is a time when [we all] strive to emulate the love of Christ and show compassion for others…Light the World [gives] opportunities to bring up your faith with people in natural and normal ways, both in person and online.”





AND LASTLY....


One of the best Christmas experiences every year for me happens in sacrament meeting just before Christmas.  We sing praises to the Savior, partake of the sacrament to remember Him, and hear the beautiful messages of His gospel. This year it is on Sunday, December 22^nd.  I invite you to come and see what the Church is all about that day.  Also at LightThe World.org you can find how to locate a chapel near you with times of service so you can attend a Christmas celebration.


All of us have been focusing on Christ’s attributes all year through our study of the New Testament:   how He exercised faith, was always firm and steadfast, overcame fear, was a source of light for us to follow….   Now you can follow the Savior’s example and reach out in love and charity.   Let this Christmas season make a difference in someone’s life who is not expecting it. I promise, your own Christmas will be a hundred-fold better!

Merry Christmas! 

FORGIVENESS....AN IMPORTANT REPEAT!

In all the times I have studied the New Testament either as a seminary student and as a student in a New Testament class at BYU, plus the years I studied and taught seminary and the Gospel Doctrine class in Sunday School, I didn’t really recall the contents of the book of Philemon at all.  But in our Come Follow Me study this last week, it was one of Paul’s epistles that was on the docket to get a greater understanding. 

It’s the shortest of Paul’s letters, just one page, and it sounds more like a personal letter to Philemon as Paul encourages him to forgive his servant Onesimus who ran away but ultimately was converted to the Church.  

As I was studying this little epistle, I thought a lot about forgiveness—seeking forgiveness and forgiving others who have injured us.  There are some powerful messages in these few verses in the Pauline epistles.

Then I thought about a book I read recently which one of my flying partners recommended.  It was a really good book.  The kind we used to read in Book Club that had some meat in the story and some great writing to make it unforgettable.  (THOSE have been far and few between since the B.R.O.A.D.S. disbanded when Janean moved to Utah and the rest of us scattered here and there after hanging on for a couple of years following Rosalie’s departure.)  


M. L. Stedman wrote “The Light Between Oceans” as a debut novel set in her native Western Australia.  Briefly, it is about Tom a World War I soldier who survived the horrible trenches in Western Europe.  He enjoys being alone as the lighthouse keeper on a small island at the tip of the continent.  Then on one trip back to the mainland, he meets Isabel and eventually brings her back to the island as his wife.  Life is solitary and hard.  Soon after she has suffered her third miscarriage, a small boat washes up on the shore with a baby who is alive and a man who is dead.  Isabel talks her husband into letting them keep the baby, though he is very opposed to it because the baby obviously belongs to someone else.  The rest of the book is about the consequences of that choice.  


Eventually this couple finds out who the baby belongs to and the circumstances of its being out on the ocean in a boat with her dead father.  In flashbacks the reader learns that the father was an Austrian whose own father took the family to Australia when his financial condition was reduced to nothing because of his gambling addiction.  The father commits suicide leaving Frans (now Frank) the sole provider.  He does very well for himself as a baker, but the townspeople don’t see any difference from him as an Austrian as from a German.  He speaks German.  To these people he is the embodiment of everything evil about the Great War.  He is shunned.  He is treated very poorly.  He is ridiculed and taunted.  But he has chosen to rise above it and treat others better than he has been treated—always a smile and a good word even with their meanness directed to him.  That is what attracted his wife to him.  His wife, who is the baby’s mother.


One particularly bad day Hannah, the wife and mother of the man and baby in the boat, 

"recalled a conversation with her husband Frank.  “But how?  How can you just get over these things, darling? She had asked him.  “You’ve had so much strife but you’re always happy.  How do you do it?’

    “I choose to,” he said.  “I can leave myself to rot in the past, spend my time hating people for what happened, like my father did, or I can forgive and forget.”

     “But it’s not that easy.”

   He smiled that Frank smile.  “Oh, but my treasure, it is so much less exhausting.  You only have to forgive once.  To resent, you have to do it all day, every day.  You have to keep remembering all the bad things.”  He laughed, pretending to wipe sweat from his brow.  “I would have to make a list, a very, very long list and make sure I hated the people on it the right amount.  That I did a very proper job of hating, too:  very Teutonic!  No”—his voice became sober—“we always have a choice.  All of us.”  


Forgiveness is such an important part of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The world is permeated with wisdom and stories (both classical and homely) which catalog its importance, not only to the one wronged, but for the one who is doing the “wronging”.  


Bottom line...we all need forgiveness.  Daily.  And we all need to be reminded that we need it.  Either through our study of the scriptures, or through the thoughtful creation of a talented writer.  There is no end of worthy examples for us to follow, beginning with Jesus Christ.


To err is human; to forgive, divine. 
 Alexander Pope

NOTE:  There is also a movie of the same name which came out in 2016, I think.  It follows the story pretty closely, so I thought it was also worthwhile.  Actually, I saw the movie first--and then could hardly wait for Amazon Prime to deliver the book two days later.  I was not disappointed.