The real meaning of Christmas
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Despite discouragement and disheartening conditions worldwide, Christmas is, for President Thomas S. Monson, the happiest season of the year, he affirmed in his First Presidency Christmas Devotional address on Dec. 2.
President Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, reminisced about Christmases of his boyhood and the joy he still feels during the season.
He described the childhood anticipation with which he and his siblings awoke early on Christmas mornings to see what Santa had brought during the night. It became clear to them, he said, that Santa liked boiled ham sandwiches, potato chips and a glass of milk, as those snacks, left for him, were always gone after his visit.
He said although he remembers the enjoyment of being with extended family members at Christmas, he doesn't recall many of the gifts he received. However, he remembers that when he was about 10 years old, an uncle gave him an Esterbrook fountain pen, which he used throughout his school years, active duty in the U.S. Navy, and at the University of Utah, where it wore out just after his graduation. "I'm sure Uncle Ray didn't pay more than a dollar for it, but it was priceless to me, for I knew he selected it with great care and love."
Over time, President Monson said, his thoughts at Christmas gradually centered less on self and more on others. He told of receiving a prized electric train for Christmas one year. His parents purchased a less-expensive, windup model for an underprivileged boy down the street. He saw an oil tanker car in the cheaper set and pleaded for it. His mother reluctantly gave in. Then, when they took the remaining cars and engine to the other boy and he saw that boy's delight in the gift, he had a change of heart. He rushed back to his house, fetched the tanker car and another car from his own set, and took it to the other boy.
"The feelings I experienced as I watched his added joy are difficult to describe yet absolutely impossible to forget," President Monson declared. "I had learned that true happiness comes only by making others happy."
He spoke of how he and his wife, Frances, received joy in their children's happiness as they experienced the wonder of Christmas mornings and delight in discovering that Santa had visited. Then grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren, have kept that joy alive.
"Times change, years speed by; but Christmas continues sacred and unchanged," he said. "This is because the Source of the special spirit we feel — even our Savior, Jesus Christ — remains at the center of our celebration.
"If we allow it, Christmas can be a frantic, over-commercialized activity. Rather, may it be to us a celebration of love and selflessness that blesses the giver more than the receiver. The difference lies in what is in the heart — not what is in the hand."
He added, "The Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit that makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and prompts us to kind deeds of service. It is the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ, obedience to which will bring peace on earth, because it means good will toward all men. The spirit of Christmas can mend wounded hearts and heal entire nations.
"As Christmas comes this year, let it be a time that lights the eyes of children and puts laughter on their lips. Let it be a time for lifting the lives of those who live in loneliness. Let it be a time for calling our families together, for feeling a nearness to those who are near to us and a nearness also to those who are absent. Let it be a time of prayers for peace and for the protection of those who are far from us. Let it be a time for re-examining ourselves and for dedicating our lives to those values that endure.
"Most of all, let it be a time to remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds and the worship of the wise men."
E-mail to: rscott@desnews.com
