After I enjoyed the new feature film “Narnia” of the C.S. Lewis story, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” I reflected on a thought: What would it be like if it was, as in Narnia, “always winter and never Christmas”?
There would be no family gatherings. The days would get shorter and colder, with nothing to look forward to — no Christmas gifts, no holiday traditions, no Saint Nicholas. No Christmas carols, no decorations, no Christmas trees or holly berries — no Charlie Brown Christmas specials, no Bing Crosby in “White Christmas,” no Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Children would have to go to school the entire month of December, and Christmas Day would be just another average day.
Sounds tragic, doesn’t it? Yet even without all those things, we could still celebrate Christmas, because since the fourth century, Christmas has always been about the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ — a birth that changed the course of history.
For if Christ had not been born, the world would be far different than one could imagine.
For instance, Jesus taught his followers to love their neighbors as themselves. As they lived out that command, they established charities. The early followers of Christ stressed the importance of supporting widows, orphans, the sick and disabled. They organized efforts to help those who were dying. They built, staffed and paid for hospitals.
In recent times, Christ’s followers founded nearly every charitable organization on the earth, including the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, World Relief, World Vision, Samaritan’s Purse, Food for the Hungry and Compassion International.
[Read the rest at Tracy Press]
