YOU ARE HERE: Central Kentucky Home→Collections→Christmas

Letter: The heart of Christmas

December 24, 2009

Dear Editor,

It was an unusual experience. Christmas was a few days away, and excitement was in the air. The room was filled with eager girls and boys ranging in age from 8 to 18 when, unexpectedly, I walked into the room. After greeting the group, I gave each one an index card on which had been written, "Christmas is."

Then, I asked those in that group to finish one sentence that expressed what Christmas meant to them.

Eagerly, those girls and boys responded to my request, and the sentences they wrote were both interesting and insightful. Over half of the group, in one way or another, noted that much frivolity surrounds Christmas, but in a simple and direct way, they stated that the true meaning of Christmas is found in the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem of Judea.

One member of the group wrote, "Christmas is turning into a commercial affair.

All of the stores are having 50 percent off, and everybody has been going along with it, including me, but I haven't forgotten that Christmas is the birth of Christ."

This is the heart of Christmas: When the time was completely right, God acted uniquely and decisively to give the human race the help it desperately needed.

He sent his only begotten Son, who was born under unusual circumstances in Bethlehem of Judea and, after being wrapped in swaddling clothes, was laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn.

That event, ignored by many, got the attention of some. Shepherds, tending their flocks in nearby fields, heard angel voices and, leaving their flocks untended, went in haste to Bethlehem to see a newborn baby. Too, wise men from the east, following a special star, were led to Bethlehem where they found a newborn infant and presented royal gifts to him.

Since that momentous event that changed the course of human history about 2,000 years ago, those who have knelt reverently before the One who was born in Bethlehem have had their lives radically changed and redirected.

Howard Coop
Lancaster

|

|

|