Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. It’s always such a
magical time of the year.
“Christmas magic will last forever and ever and ever!” my
five year old daughter declared as we were having an adventure on the floor with
her toy horses this past Christmas morning. I couldn’t agree with her more and
yet the magic changes throughout the years.
That evening her
older brother asked her “What was your favorite Christmas gift … besides being
together as a family?” Made me smile to hear him say this especially after he
had been quite depressed and moody after opening Christmas presents that
morning. He was so excited right away when he woke up and as we opened the gifts
but then something drastically changed.
“I don’t know why I feel this way Dad. I got everything that
I wanted,” he finally told me as we talked. I could tell the problem was that
he had huge expectations and thought that he would find complete satisfaction
and joy in his presents. Not finding it there, he felt empty and sad.
“Presents are fun,” I told him, “But they never will make
you totally fulfilled and if we expect any object or thing to give us true
peace, we will always be disappointed in the end.” I explained that the feeling
he longed for can only be found when we are giving love to others and to Got. A
difficult lesson for all of us to learn and one I hope he understands a bit
better now.
It didn’t take long before he had and his sister were
playing with their new Marble Run toy and he had a smile back on his face
again. It was hard to see him so down and depressed after being so excited, but
he grew a lot this Christmas I think and sometimes growing is painful. The
magic will continue to change of course and part of me is sad to think about
this. But there is something wonderful when the Christmas magic becomes less
about the gifts you get and more about the people around you and the love you
share.
To quote St Pope John Paul II, “It is Jesus that you seek
when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find
satisfies you.” That’s the true magic of Christmas.
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