Sunday, December 12, 2010

SPIRITUAL SUNDAY


"In Him was life;and his life was the light of men . And
the light shines in darkness."John 1:4-5

Keeping Christmas by Henry Van Dyke

"It is a good thing to observe Christmas Day .The mere making of times and seasons , when men agree to stop work and make merry together , is a wise and wholesome custom.
It helps one to feel the supremacy of the common life over the individual life.
It reminds a man to set his own little watch ,now and then , by the great clock of humanity which runs on sun time .
But there is a better thing than the observance of Christmas Day , and that is keeping Christmas .
Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people and remember what other people have done done for you ; to ignore what the world owes you , and to think what you owe the world;to put your rights in the background ,and your duties in the middle distance , and a chance to do a little more than your duty in the foreground ;to see that your fellowmen are just as real as you are , and to look behind their faces to their hearts hungry for joy; to own that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life , but what you are going to give to life ; to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe , and look around for a place you can sow a few seeds of happiness --
are you willing to do these things even for a day ?
Then you can keep Christmas .
Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children ; to remember the the weakness and loneliness of people who are growing old , to stop asking how much your friends love you , and ask yourself whether you love them enough ;
to bear in mind the things other people have to bear in their hearts ;to try to understand what those people living in the same house as you really want without waiting for them to tell you ; to trim your light so that it will give more light and less smoke , and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you ; to make a grave for your ugly thoughts and a garden for your kindly feelings,with the gate open ---
Are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing to believe that love in the strongest thing in the world --
stronger than hate ,stronger than evil, stronger than death--
and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love ?
Then you can keep Christmas ,
And if you can keep it for a day , why not always ?
But you can never keep it alone.


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If only we could keep Christmas all year . But without Jesus in our hearts we are unable to sustain real goodness in our lives . "I have been put to death on the cross with Christ; still I am living,no longer I ,but Christ is living in me ;and that life which I am now
living in the flesh, I am living by faith , the faith of the
son of God , who in Love gave himself for me . "
Galatians 2:20

Praise to Jesus !


Visit our Host here .

Merry Christmas !
~Myrna

5 comments:

  1. Your words you posted and the song were very inspiring today. I hope you have a blessed Sunday.

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  2. Thanks for such a great post. I wonder what the world would be like if we all adopted the attitude and lived our lives like Van Dyke suggests. Hmmm....

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  3. Great thoughts to consider thanks--I haven't read those by Van Dyke before and I also haven't heard that particular song by third day.

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  4. Excellent advice for everybody. Thank you for helping us know how to keep Christmas. The video is beautiful. Jesus definitely is the light of the world.
    Blessings,
    Charlotte

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi,
    I really like Keeping of Christmas and the questions it asks. It is familiar to me.
    Pretty top page banner with holly leaves.

    Christmas Blessings to you,

    ReplyDelete

Hi, Thank-you for your comment. ❀◕ ‿ ◕❀
I appreciate your kindness.


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