Christmas is a Season for Taking

Being by nature a contrarian, I often find myself trying to find another viewpoint, another way of looking at things.  And since we hear so much at this time of year that Christmas is a time of giving, I'd like to propose that Christmas is a Season for Taking.

We should take the time to celebrate warmly and openly with friends, neighbors, family, and even strangers.  Christmas is a time of good cheer.  It lends itself to going out of our way to meeting and greeting people whose life we can enrich and who, in turn, will enlarge our circle of friends.
Take note of the beauties of nature.  Take walks and bicycle rides.  Take along your kids and grandkids.  Take some pictures or videos of your adventures.

We can take the opportunity to dust off our musical talent, such as they are, and join the choir or the congregation in singing some of the happiest songs in the hymnal or the choir library.  Take this opportunity whether or not your second grade teacher told you to be quiet when the others sing.  Even the psalmist admonished us to "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord (Psalms 95:1)."

Let us take stock of where we are and how much we have been blessed in the past 12 months.  We'll soon be making those irksome New Year's resolutions which can make us feel negative about our accomplishments.  Take the chance this month to focus on the positives.

Take a look around your home, your neighborhood, your work area.  How can you make a difference?  Take a chance in asking someone to work with you on a clean-up or beautification project.

Finally, let us take time to really appreciate God's gift to humanity.  We can recognize the symbolism in the gifts we give each other which represent God's gift to us as well as the gifts brought by the three wise men from the east.