THE TRUE JOY OF CHRISTMAS
What was it about that last package under the tree that always seemed to dim the youthful glow of Christmas? The wrapping was every bit as bright as any of those which had eagerly been opened to reveal mysterious hidden treasures. This last gift was always approached with hesitation and soberness as if it somehow contained some mystical vapors, which if released would subdue the joys and warmth that had filled the house since the week before Thanksgiving.
Memory has been clouded by years, but somewhere back there in the days which separate childhood from adulthood something transpired to bridge the annual gulf between this year’s last package and next year’s first wrapping; a potion which magically evaporated those terrible vapors which clouded joy and warmth and allowed me the blessing of an almost continual basking throughout the year.
Like I say, I can't remember when IT first came, but IT has forever since spanned the abyss between the transitory, busy, glittering, boisterous, yearning, youthful concept of Christmas and with a magical special flicker in a moment changed my soul. From that moment until now I have been allowed to more or less remain in a state where I can celebrate the passing of one warm moment of continual joy into the next which follows quickly, as if there was no gap in the feeling.
Although I can't clearly remember the when, the where or the what of the crossing of this wondrous bridge which brought me to this place where joy burns warmly in the ever presence of my mind, I can easily identify it as the brightest and greatest gift I have ever unwrapped.
The true joy of yearlong Christmas warmth became a prized possession that moment when I first opened the gift of all gifts and felt the warming love of my Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ and in that magical moment I was moved to a determination to set my feet upon the path which would enable me in some small way to return that love.
THOUGHTS FOR A CHRISTMAS SEASON – WILLIAM L. & KATHLEEN W. RILEY
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