Hello, my friends and family:
It's December 9, 2012. I have seen signs of Christmas for over a month now. The stores were the first to bring Christmas to their shelves. It was such a surprise to go into the pharmacy near me and see them taking all the Thanksgiving decorations down and putting up Christmas things the day following Thanksgiving. Wow! No Thanksgiving sentiment there. Full speed ahead on the Christmas goodies. The shelves were piling high with Christmas candies of all kinds, especially chocolates! My favorite. And oh, the beautiful little angels adorning the shelves, and the little toys like Christmas bears, nutcrackers, little soldiers in their best dress, tiny green pine trees with miniature red and silver bulbs, lights, replacement bulbs, ribbons and all sizes of red bows. It didn't take long to make the store into a festive shopping mall.
To me, it was way to early to start decorating the homes, inside or out on the first of December. But, hey! To each, his own. I personally don't decorate the house inside like I did years ago. I just got old and it was so much work, you might say, for nothing. No. I'm not a grinch! I love Christmas. The Spiritual side of it. I love to go to church and sing Christmas carols and worship the risen Jesus. He hasn't been a baby for over two thousand years! I do love to see the little sheds and mangers, and all the figurines that depict the Holy Family. I love the idea of a bright star showing the three kings the way to Bethlehem and the baby Jesus in the manger. I wonder what was in the thoughts of the three wealthy kings when they knelt before the tiny baby in the manger and the stable he was born in. What must they have thought when they entered the animals abode and saw the little family there. It's really something to think about. Little baby Jesus could have been anywhere from a few days old up to two years old when the three kings arrived.
Just think about it. The kings went to Herrod first, asking him where the king-baby was so that they could go worship him. King Herrod was so wrought up that after the three kings left, he ordered all newborn to two-year-old male children be slautered. He was bound to get the right one in all that killing. All of Israel wept over that carnage.
The three kings offered gifts of gold, frankensence and myrrh to the baby-king. God already had it planned so that Joseph and Mary would have money for their hasty trip out of Bethlehem to Egypt. The angel of God appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to flee to Egypt with his little family to save the baby's life. God is always ahead of whatever scheme the devil has concocted to harm His Son. Isn't He a marvelous God?
On to the shopping malls now. This is December 9th and you'd think that Christmas was tomorrow the way the stores are decorated. Everyone is out to grab your money with all that is offered in the way of technology. Even one and two-year-olds reach for electronic games and it doesn't take them long to learn to use them either. Money, money, money, is what it's all about now-a-days. Greed runs rampant, and more so every year! I literally hate what greed has done to the usually nice, polite public who goes into the stores to shop. Normal, happy people turn into selfish, greedy, mean people when it comes to finding the perfect gift. So, I don't do too much shopping, and I steer clear of Black Friday shopping and Green Mondays in the stores. No way! I'm staying home and watching the first Christmas movies on the teley. It's safer.
In honor of the day that Christ came into this world as a helpless baby, I will write here a poem I wrote years ago. It is short, but to the point.
Is This Really Christmas?
The air is peaceful, cold and still.
The stars twinkle at night.
The cat slinks in the shadows, while
birds twitter in the moonlight.
But...is this really Christmas?
Shoppers scurry downtown,
purchases piling high.
Nervous voices chatter,
weary as the hours fly by.
But...is this really Christmas?
Footsteps tread through the snow,
a deliberate, peaceful walk.
Into church to kneel and worship.
There is no need to talk.
This...is really Christmas.
Evelyn B. Ryan
