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Are you as surprised as I am that another Christmas is almost here? It seems to me that it is in our nature to be surprised by the recurrence of certain annual events even though we know, by experience, that they are sure to come. Granny was right when she told me, “Remember, son, most of your days will go by slow, but your years will go by fast.” Dr. Seuss once expressed this idea with a thought-provoking question: “How did it get so late so soon?”
Many of us will, until the old year is gone from the calendar, express memories of Christmases past. Children will listen to the older ones tell stories of how things used to be different. You know, like, “I remember when we were lucky to get one nice thing for Christmas.” Or, “I remember when we would go into the woods and cut our Christmas tree.” Or, “Daddy and mama didn’t have much money to spend on Christmas, but they made sure all children got something we could use for Christmas.”
Traditions will be re-lived in our conversations. But, will the good traditions of our past be passed on to the next generation by our actions? Can the true Spirit of Christmas survive success and prosperity? Or, will a severe dose of poverty and hardship be required to bring us, as a nation, back to the reality of Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy?
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the prince of peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end …” (Isaiah 9)
Governments of man are good and are necessary for the success of our communities if we are to live in harmony with each other. Governments led by righteous men and women are approved of God and can enjoy His blessings. But when the organized communities of man depart too far from His teachings, they do not enjoy His blessings. All people in governments can and should benefit from the principles inherent in the true Spirit of Christmas.
What is the true spirit of Christmas?
The answer to this seemingly complicated question is given, in simple words, by Dr. Suess through the Grinch, “a bitter, grouchy, cave-dwelling creature with a heart two sizes too small that lived on Mount Crumpit,” who tried to steal Christmas.
When Christmas still came after all his efforts to steal it, he said: “It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!”…Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! “Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”
Success and prosperity, unwisely handled, can have a blinding influence on us all and may fool us into thinking that we can buy Christmas from a store.
With rare personal perspective, Helen Keller observed, “The only real blind person at Christmas-time is he who has not Christmas in his heart.” Bob Hope brings us to this proper conclusion: “My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?”
When the ultra-left radicals in our government waged a successful assault on the traditional Christian values embedded in our Constitution and drove God and prayer out of our schools, spiritual decay soon followed.
We, the people, would do well to encourage the men and women in our governments to help preserve the true Spirit of Christmas for future generations. especially in our schools.
Rep. Jimmy Dixon represents Duplin and Wayne counties in the N.C. House of Representatives.
