Dear Editor,
What is the best Christmas you remember? Was it when you were a child? Was it when you received the gift you wanted? Was it when you received a lot of gifts? Maybe it was when you had a special meal? Maybe it was when family members gathered who are no longer alive? Was it when you were younger? Or, was it after you became older? Was it back in the day when you were poor? Was it after you weren’t so poor? Was it when your health was better? Or, did it have something to do with the weather? For example, when you were snowed in with nothing but a warm fire and Christmas music playing on the radio.
We all remember special Christmas days for various reasons. It may have been when you were alone in a foreign country. Perhaps you were serving our country in the military and you were on a battlefield someplace fighting for our country. We will all spend Christmas in a strange place at one time or another in life if we live long enough.
Today you may spend Christmas in the nursing home as a resident or visiting a loved one. Nursing homes become very quiet lonely places on Christmas and Christmas Eve. Perhaps you have a family member in prison or maybe you have spent Christmas incarcerated. Possibly you have spent Christmas in the hospital or caring for someone in the hospital.
Of course, the list of possibilities is endless when it comes to Christmas day. Hopefully you have many good memories and hopefully you have come to a point in your life where you are able to understand those memories that aren’t so great.
The best Christmas you’ve ever had could be this Christmas because this is all we have – today. We don’t have yesterday. We don’t have tomorrow. We have today. We are fortunate to have today because we know so many who did not make it until today. They’ve gone on. We miss them. There is an empty place at the table. This usually makes us sad because we remember their presence and the joy they brought to us.
This Christmas take stock of what you have an who you are and where you are in life. It may not be exactly as you planned but it’s where you are and it’s what you have. So often we mess up our current lives looking back or trying to look forward hoping for something better and we don’t savor the moment.
Give thanks to God for your family and friends. Thank him for the gift of Jesus, the baby whose birth we celebrate.
Take time to embrace your present. The greatest gift we will have on Christmas will be the “present” moment to enjoy Christmas. Unwrap it slowly and enjoy every second. Breathe it in and look around you because you will never have this Christmas again. Next year will be different in some way. You may certainly hope so, but maybe not. We never know what life is going to bring. So, enjoy your “present” this Christmas. On Christmas day it will be your very best gift.
Dr. Glenn Mollette
