What It Would Take To Make Your Christmas Merry
What would it take to make yours a Merry Christmas? Stop waiting for it to come to you and ask yourself what it would take to make yours a Merry Christmas.
To start, consider what does it mean to be merry. Synonyms are: cheerful, joyous, happy. Though not a synonym “content” can well be considered a summary of them all. Three components are normally associated with being merry, happy, or content. They are: people, places, and things. To be bereft of any of the three is to have contentment challenged. We often have our contentment challenged by comparisons. We tend to compare ourselves with those who appear to have all three all the time. Reality is, they don’t so don’t disparage if you don’t. Actually there are persons who have found contentment without these components. They are accepting of what they do have and do not bemoan what they don’t have. It is a matter of perspective, that is, how you look at things.
Long before there was a Parton named Dolly there was a “Miss Dolly” in my life. She was a poor elderly lady who lived by herself in a house on stilts with chicken and dog pens beneath it. In early fall my mother sent me over to help Miss Dolly winterize her house by stuffing paper in the cracks of her walls and tacking up cardboard to keep out the cold. Yet, I always enjoyed visiting her because, yes, she was merry all year.
Another such person in my childhood was blind Dr. Biggs. On pleasant summer days I walked through the woods to his house where we sat under the big oaks and he read to me from his braille Bible. He had it; merriment, joy and cheerfulness. He was fulfilled because he was content.
These two lived alone, apart from family and friends. Their places were humble. Their things were few and meager. So they had contentment without the three things associated with it.
Perhaps there are things you can be proactive in changing to make it a Merry Christmas. Assume the accountability for doing what you can to make it a Merry Christmas. Don’t begrudge what you can’t control.
Turn your gaze on others. What can you do to help someone else have a better Christmas? Such a simple thing as a phone call can brighten their day. Make the call timely, short, and positive. In doing so, you will be fulfilled.
What constitutes a Merry Christmas? Gifts all wrapped under the tree do not. What does? Love is foundational. However, the people we depend upon to make it merry are not always available for shared love.
Spend time reflecting on the first Christmas and the initial gift. Again reflect on what it was that made the first Christmas possible. If you think you are not loved or that there is no one with whom to share, love remember God loves you and Christmas proves it, “For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son.”
The original gift makes it truly merry. It brought joy to the world. It was a love gift.
Sometimes there is nothing a person can do to make it a Merry Christmas. In that case accept it for what it is and resolve to rely on the one sure thing to make it the best possible. Even if you can’t change circumstances, you can change your concept of what is required to make it a fulfilling and Merry Christmas.
The gift of God’s only Son is His way of saying —- MERRY CHRISTMAS.