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Christmas Wisdom

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Naturally Charles Dickens has more than one thought for the holiday, Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home!

Lest we forget, W J Cameron reminds us, There has been only one Christmas, the rest are anniversaries.

Thanks go to Eric Sevareid for resetting our perspective when he pointed out that, Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves.

We can all agree with Laura Ingalls Wilder when she reminds us that, Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas time.

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall. Thank you Larry Wilde, it’s too true.

Washington Irving is also here to remind us, Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.

Peg Bracken definitely gets it. We can only hope that we do too. She said, Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.

Kate L Bosher said, Isn’t it funny that at Christmas something in you gets so lonely for — I don’t know what exactly, but it’s something that you don’t mind so much not having at other times.

And Marjorie Holmes knows what we get so lonely for. She said, At Christmas, all roads lead home.

It may be sad but true that Francis C Farley is correct. He said, Instead of being a time of unusual behavior, Christmas is perhaps the only time in the year when people can obey their natural impulses and express their true sentiments without feeling self-conscious and, perhaps, foolish. Christmas, in short, is about the only chance a man has to be himself.

Harlan Miller has an idea worth following up, I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.

What would a collection of thoughtful thoughts be without Dave Barry. Dave said, In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it “Christmas” and went to church; the Jews called it “hanukkah” and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say “Merry Christmas!” or “Happy Hanukka!” or (to the
atheists) “Look out for the wall!”

David Grayson shows us how to get into the Christmas spirit. He said, I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays — let them overtake me unexpectedly — waking
up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: “Why, this is Christmas Day!”

Alexander Smith adds a perspective well worth pondering. He said, There is one more good thing about Winter—he brings Christmas. Through the bleak December the thought of the coming festival is pleasant—like the reflection
of a fire on our faces…. Christmas-day is the pleasantest day in the whole year. On that day we think tenderly of distant friends; we strive to forgive injuries—to close accounts with ourselves and the world—to begin the new year with a white leaf, and a trust that the chapter of life about to be written will contain more notable entries, a fairer sprinkling of good actions, fewer erasures made in blushes, and fewer ugly blots than some of the earlier ones. And to make Christmas perfect, the ground should be covered and the trees draped with snow; the bleak world outside should make us enjoy all the more keenly the comforts we possess; and above all, it should make us remember the poor and the needy; for a charitable deed is the best close of any chapter of our lives, and the best promise, too, for the record about to be begun.