The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
We all know that there is such a thing as the Christmas spirit, whether or not we have caught it yet or not. It really is the "most wonderful time of the year." It's that time when we come the closest to living the way that God always intended us to live. The songwriter had it right when he said, "There's something about Christmas that makes me wish it was Christmas everyday." People are different at Christmas, they are friendlier, and there really is a lot of good will that gets spread around. Even the wars used to shut down for Christmas. We try to let bygones be bygones and do our best to promote peace and harmony amongst our friends and relatives. The little Swede knew this when he sang, "I yust go nuts at Christmas; I even hug and kiss my wife's mother, the rest of the year we don't speak to each other." Yes, truly the Christmas spirit does exist. But where does it come from? I think we all know the answer to this whether or not we pay much attention to it. The angels proclaimed on that first Christmas Eve, "Peace on earth and good will to men." (Luke 2:14) Jesus was born into this world to bring peace and harmony between mankind and God and between man and man. For a brief time during Christmas the spirit of this is somewhat realized. God's real purpose is for this to be realized the other 11 months of the year. The only way that this can become reality in our world is for us to intimately experience the Christ of Christmas. He came to promote change in the way we behave towards each other. The real spirit of Christmas originates with Him who came to set us free from our selfish ends and to think how we can best make life a little better for those about us. Every year at Christmas we catch a glimpse of this. This Christmas may you and yours experience the real Spirit of Christmas and let's have a little more of the Christmas spirit throughout the rest of the year please.
