I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
While we like;y haven’t required the jarring and intense conversion of Ebenezer Scrooge, it’s likely that throughout the Advent Season, we were able to identify ways in which we could grow closer to Christ our Lord. Perhaps we are wasteful with our time as we doomscroll, or could do more than we do to help our neighbors in need.
Perhaps as we provided food items, and Christmas gifts through various drives we found ourselves reflecting on the ways our brothers and sisters struggle. Recognizing that the need to help is ongoing, and that those in need during the holidays remain in need.
Just maybe as Scrooge was notified of the coming of the Ghosts by the tolling of a bell, we’ve been reminded that we need to make the space to listen, sit in silence, and reflect from time to time.
Whatever we’ve learned during our travels and practices of Advent, we are called to take with us throughout the year. As Scrooge said in the famous short story, and its many short stories throughout the years, let’s heed the call to keep Christmas in our hearts, to live kindly, joyfully, and generously all year round. Not just because it is nice, but because what should be central to our life, is our relationship with Jesus Christ.
This week, let’s continue to joyously live Christmas without fatigue, so that when Christ comes again, we will be ready to greet Him, and that He might recognize us as His own. Pray for all those who are caught up in their own greed, or misery, and that all might know Christ in their lives, and through our actions.
God Bless and Merry Christmas.