We wish you a Merry Christmas, a very, very Merry Christmas

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.  And to those honoring Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or celebrations specific to other faiths, I want you also to enjoy your special time.

Let me talk about Christmas for just a bit.  Like the song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”  That’s true of any year.

It’s great when a year is good and everyone has some cash jingling in their pockets when holiday time comes around.  But this year, as in the past few years, a lot of people don’t have very much money to pay the bills and also to buy presents.

Sometimes, we have to forget about the “now” in favor of the traditional.  We have to think of the Miracle in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago.  Even if you don’t believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, we have to believe that he was a man with a very special message, who was gifted with a charisma that reached to all parts of the world. And whose memory is memorialized by millions.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, could have come to this world on wings of Glory.  But he didn’t.  He came the same way your and I arrived on this planet – as a baby nurtured in the womb and born into the world. But Christ was born on a day that would be celebrated for all times.

No matter how you perceive Jesus, he did not come with royal robes and flights of angels. He was born in a manger – in a stall where horses and cattle feed.  There was nothing spectacular about his arrival on earth – much the way there was nothing spectacular in many of our lives this past year – or in the past few years.

Jesus was never rich in a material sense.  His family was poor, and he eked out a living the way his father, Joseph, did – as a carpenter.  As he grew, he went to the Temple and taught his lessons.  Yes, Jesus was also a teacher.

In our world today, carpenters and teachers do not receive substantial amounts of pay. But their work is important because it provides us shelter and gives us an education – things vital to our lives.

In life, Jesus never ruled as the Son of God.  If anything, he rejected the regal world for that of his Father in Heaven, where we all want to dwell someday.  He told us how to do it.  He told us he loved us – he loved all of us, imperfect as we humans are.  We are sinners, but he will always forgive. Even as he died on the cross, he forgave us.

To this day, he hears the cries of the poor and the wails of the homeless. And while some feel Jesus doesn’t treat us all fairly, this just isn’t so. We are the ones who must work for a living, pursue happiness, which is not guaranteed, and learn the lessons of life that are sometimes difficult to fathom, but are necessary.

Now is not a time to fall into depression, but rather, it’s the time to celebrate.  To hang colorful wreaths and ornaments. Share the spirit of the season.  It costs nothing to share good will with other men and women.

We have seen how those with more material things help those with less by donating food and toys.  There is a special feeling we share just by walking down the street and saying “Hi” to people we don’t even know.

It’s the spirit that’s important, not the materialism. At this time of year, we must abandon sadness for a happier demeanor.

We need to keep the good mood and the faith of good days into the future as we wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.