Meaning over Mistletoe

Greetings Dear Reader,

I trust that you all had a happy Black Friday. I know that many of you were up and about early in the pursuit of deals and steals. There is nothing wrong with Christmas shopping or enjoying the fervor of the day. My daughter Christmas and I headed to observe own Black Friday traditions. As I have been talking about often lately, I am doing my best to focus on the purpose of Christmas over the trappings.

I love decorating and changing the home to reflect the spirit of the season. I love moving among the bustling shoppers smiling and finding opportunities to show small kindnesses. The look given when you give away your shopping cart or help someone with packages is so much more one of surprise that it once was. Common courtesy is no longer common and yet it must be so if I am to live the spirit of Christ’s love and kindness.

As you will hear me say often over the next month and as Mr. Dickens said so well, “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”

No matter what my vocation I must focus my avocation on ensuring that I am about the business of the meaning of Christmas. It has nothing to do with decorations, shopping, food, or mistletoe. It has everything to do with providing opportunity to all that I encounter to see and feel the purpose of the season. It is all of no use if the threads of redemption and reconciliation are not sewn into the fabric of all I do.

I was with someone yesterday who battled to focus on others instead of himself whilst shopping. A constant stream of muttering about what he wished to have accompanied his attempts to shop for others. It reminded me keenly that I must focus on others and know that Christ has my needs in his heart.

So as I move among the shoppers and shop keepers I will choose meaning over mistletoe. I will choose kindness over self-centeredness. I will choose generosity over greed. By God’s grace I will live with that spirit in heart daily.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a home owner. He brings new and old things out of his treasure store."