Being a pastor and one of Santa’s helpers on top of that, I often get asked, “What Christmas means to me?” It means beautiful music on the radio and the Living Nativity at church.
It’s waiting till everyone else is snug in their beds before pulling out all those old Christmas movies like White Christmas, Holiday Inn, and Die Hard and letting a sentimental tear slide down my face and into the cup of hot chocolate as I watch my favorite Christmas movies.
Christmas means the smell of fresh bread baking and the citrus smell of all the fruit momma bought from the kids at school. It’s riding by Graceland and knowing they still use the same tinsel they used when Elvis was still alive or visiting the Memphis Zoo for their gorgeous light display and the one curious elephant who stands on her side of the fence looking at all the humans looking back at her, And no child outgrows looking at the all the themed Christmas trees at the Children’s Museum
Yes, Christmas is the Senatobia and Independence parades and having breakfast with Santa at the firehouse or cookies with him and Mrs. Clause at the John Deer store in Hernando.
Closer to home, it means the cell phone buzzing in my pocket and one of my boys saying, “Hey Pops, can I charge Momma’s present to you? “It means passing cars on the interstate with packages piled up in the back widow as they head to grandma’s house. It means kissing kinfolks, some you enjoy kissing and some you don’t.
Christmas just means so much to me. All the goodies lying around the house, the heartburn and indigestion, the cups of egg nog and apple cider that make my doctor shudder with each sip but seem like a mandatory indulgence this time of year. Christmas time is hearing one of my nieces or nephews complain, “I didn’t get to hang as much on the tree as such and such did!” Everything just seems so much prettier at Christmas time around the Cain home.
However, my youngest boy came in the other day and said, “I was at the firehouse with Santa when I heard a boy say they weren’t going to have Christmas this year because their house had burned downed.”
Thankfully some of our church members found them and we were able to get them some clothes from the church and food from our food pantry while somebody else bought their children some toys so that the kids could have a good Christmas.
What’s Christmas? It was the expression on those people’s faces as they saw all the food and toys, and how happy they were to have a Christmas this year. Finally, Christmas means the Christ child, for if our family didn’t know Jesus we wouldn’t have had the love to react to this situation like we and others did. It is easy to share love with others at Christmas when you know the ultimate gift of lovein your own heart.
What is Christmas? Its doing for others, putting the needs of others over our own needs, that is the Spirit of Christmas. ND Isnt it great to be a believer at Christmas!
Jim Cain Is the pastor of Greenleaf and Palestine United Methodist Churches. He has recently started back writing his column, “Raising Cain, after a much needed sabbatical. He can be reached for comment at jimcain78!gmail.com.
