Finding the true meaning of Christmas

By Jeff Orvis

Thanks for the kind comments on my first try at writing a blog. I hope in the weeks to come, I will be more diligent in updating this site more often.

A few days ago, Tony Jones, a friend from Belle Plaine, put forth the question on his Facebook page dealing with his friends' views of the true meaning of Christmas. Facebook is a wonderful way to keep up with those who we may not see very often. It is also sometimes allows you to spend a few idle moments jotting down the first thing that comes to mind.

Tony's question got me thinking. Last year at this time, I was wondering how I would get out of town to buy whatever Christmas presents I couldn't find in Belle Plaine. Then I wondered if I would get home for the holidays. As it turned out, the weather was pretty rotten last Christmas and after remembering a previous Christmas driving during a freezing rainstorm on Interstate 80, I decided not to chance it last year.

This year is a bit different. I have relocated closer to a lot of my relatives and live within a mile of some of the best shopping in the Quad-Cities. Anyone who is concerned about the prosperity of retail businesses should get a look at the Sunday newspapers in this area. Apparently there's enough business that dozens of stores can afford glossy advertising inserts in the papers every week.

For the folks who have experienced severe financial difficulties this past year, there are several sources of help in this area. It seems that each night there is a news report on a holiday dinner for those needing a little cheer or a toy drive to give Santa a helping hand to some of the area's needy children. In front of many of those aforementioned stores, Salvation Army kettles are manned by bell ringing volunteers who are braving the elements to help the cause.

Sunday morning I had every intention of attending church. But when I went out to start the van, it was covered with a hard-to-scrape coating of frost and ice. After about 15 minutes of trying, I gave up. My mom had asked if I would go with her and other members of her church to do some Christmas caroling Sunday afternoon. I'll admit the idea wasn't that exciting at first. After all, this was Sunday afternoon she was talking about - NFL Sunday afternoon. But after missing church in the morning, I made up my mind to turn off the TV and go caroling.

Our first stop convinced me I had made the right decision. We had 25-30 folks in our group and we sang a half-dozen carols for the residents of the Davenport Lutheran Home. Mom's pastor also serves as the chaplain at the home and at least several of the residents were members of her church. Most of them would not be leaving the facility for Christmas. Some of them would probably not be visited by friends or relatives on this most festive of days. We only stayed about a half-hour. But our visit may have made a positive impact on the lives of many of those who heard us.

We made several other stops that afternoon at a couple of retirement homes and at private homes of shut-ins. Then we returned to the church for soup and hot chocolate. It was just one Sunday afternoon. It was one way of experiencing the true meaning of Christmas - sharing our voices and the good news of the birth of Jesus to others. The soup and fellowship at the church was good. One of the other guys there had one of those fancy cell phones that gave him access to the internet and he updated us on the football scores for the afternoon. Besides, I knew the Bears weren't playing until Monday night, so all was well.

One of the traditions of Christmas in recent years has been the showing of the TV movie "A Charley Brown Christmas," featuring the Peanuts gang attempting to present a Christmas play. The kids are shown scurrying about, trying to find a nice tree for the stage, selecting proper holiday music, figuring out who would play which part in the play, etc. Just when all appears to be lost, Linus steps to center stage and begins quietly reciting the story of the birth of Jesus from the second chapter of the book of Luke in the Bible. And in those last few moments, the true meaning of Christmas comes through loud and clear.

The point of this whole story is it's probably okay to be a bit stressed this time of the year. Shopping for gifts, planning trips to visit relatives and planning and preparing the right treats for the big day can be fun. But it seems that the whole experience can be even more special, regardless of your current economic condition, if you stop for a few moments and consider what it must have been like some 2,000 years ago in a barn in the Middle Eastern town of Bethlehem and what that little baby, born of a virgin, would accomplish in his all-too-short, but vital life here on earth.

May you and your family enjoy this time of year and discover and remember why we celebrate.

Merry Christmas!