Children and Christmas

When my wife Teresa worked as a sales clerk in a drugstore in Saskatoon, some customers would complain about having to buy presents at Christmas. Their common response to the season was: "Christmas is for kids."

Children and Christmas just seem to go together. There is a wonder about Christmas for children. I remember how special Christmas was when I was a child. Everything seemed so awesome--the tree decorated with lights and tinsel, the carols sung in church or heard over the record player, the love and warmth of family around me. How much fun it was to receive Christmas as a child!

As I have grown older and more mature, I've come to see Christmas differently. The wonder has been replaced by the knowledge that come January there will be bills to pay and broken toys and gadgets lying around the house. Every year I try to recapture the awe of Christmas, and every year it is as if I come close to feeling the newness again briefly before it fades as quickly as fog in the noonday sun. Suddenly, memories become valuable. Why can't I recapture that feeling I had when I was a child? Is my attitude correct? Is my attitude any different from the attitude of those my wife encountered in the drugstore?

I believe that we need to have a proper understanding of giving and receiving. If one of these aspects is flawed, then our joy at Christmas will be diminished. Giving and receiving go hand-in-hand. Without a receiver, the giver has no purpose. Without a giver, there can be no receiver.

God gave the greatest gift to humankind at Christmas--His Son, Jesus. It is this Jesus who compels us to love, and it is because of His love lost feeling of wonder, we need to become childlike again.

Peter Woelk is editorial assistant for the Herald.

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