Grinches, Princes, and Hearts

     It's kind of funny how the world thinks Christmas is all about getting. When you talk to a little kid about Christmas, you almost always ask "so, what do you want Santa to bring you this year?" or "what do you want for Christmas?"

I think the question should be "what are you giving for Christmas?"

     Christmas has become so commercialized: somehow the world has reworked the birth of Christ into a celebration about expensive presents and Santa Clause to the sound track of chestnuts roasting on open fires, sleigh bells, and reindeer with red noses.

What happened to the true meaning of Christmas?

     We all know the story of the Grinch...

Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, 

was singing! Without any presents at all! 

He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME!

Somehow or other, it came just the same! 

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, 

stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?

"It came without ribbons! It came without tags! 

It came without packages, boxes or bags!"

And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. 

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.

     Christmas is more than just seeing your name on the tag of a big present under the tree. It's more than tearing off paper and ribbons on Christmas morning and finding some expensive gift that you think you need. And it definitely means "a little bit more."

     Gifts are important, there is no denying that; the season is all about Heavenly Father's gift to us, the gift of His Son. It is a celebration not only of the fact that He was born, but that He lived. That He lived, He loved, and He served. 
     When we give gifts, it's to remember the Ultimate Gift that was given, to show Heavenly Father that we are ever-so-grateful for His Son. It's to honor the Child in the manger, just like the wise men did when they gave their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It's to share a little bit of your heart with the people that you love.

"What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a wise man, I'd bring a lamb.

If I were a wise man, I do my part.

What can I give Him? Give Him my heart." 

      It is the heart that matters, not the bank account. After all, "Il est tres simple: on ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." [It's very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eyes. - Le Petit Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery]

     While bank accounts get smaller when things are given, the heart can only grow; whatever was taken out is refilled with hope, joy, and the desire to give even more! After all...

"It is far better to give than to receive."

How silently, how silentyl

The wondrous gift is giv'n!

So God imparts to human hearts

the blessings of His heav'n.

No ear may hear His coming;

But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive Him, still

The dear Christ enters in.