You CAN take it with you, and you SHOULD take it with you! I’m talking about all the love, peace and joy that you experienced over this holiday season. Take it with you into this upcoming New Year.
Think of all the love that people showered on you in the days leading up to your celebration. Love came in the forms of concerns in the baking, preparing, wrapping, decorating, connecting and reaching out.
Think of all the clerks putting in extra time and effort to meet shoppers’ needs. Think of the mail, UPS, FedEx and Amazon delivery people working long hours into the night to make sure you received your orders in a timely fashion. Think of all the clergy and choirs that practiced overtime to ensure your beautiful service. Think of all the grocery store clerks standing hours on end checking your items making sure you have what you need for your celebrations.
Many people, known and unknown went out of their normal way to make your holiday a happy one, showing you the real reason for the season. You experienced a season of love.
If we don’t take this love into the coming year, we will have missed the whole reason for all the celebrations.
How do we take this season of love into the New Year?
-Is it friendliness and courtesy? Good, but not enough.
-Taking care never to hurt anybody? Very good but still not enough.
-Praying each day for all who are in need? Very good indeed, but still not enough.
This Christmas season shows us what real love looks like and what it does. It does what is needed to bring out the best in our neighbor. And it does that, a day at a time, as long as needed.
It is faithful and doesn’t count the cost.
The kind of love that we take away from Christmas takes ordinary people and transforms them. And it can also transform us if we give it away without counting.
After this season, we will never settle for “have a nice day”! We’ve learned to listen to people’s hearts, and hear their real needs. Always do what is needed without counting the costs and never walk away!
Take this with you into your New Year and be Joyous all year long!
