One of my earliest
Christmas memories is from when I was about four or five years old, living in Oswego, New
York. It was Christmas Eve, and after the festivities of the evening were over,
I had been sent upstairs to bed. But I was restless, and in the excitement of the
evening and what I hoped awaited in the morning, I couldn’t sleep.
After probably only
a few minutes in bed, I crept out of my room and back toward the
staircase. At the top of the stairs,
through the wooden pillars holding up the bannister, I watched as my Mom and
Dad busied themselves around the Christmas tree, apparently wrapping presents
and listening to Christmas music on the stereo.
I must not have been
a very good spy because my parents caught me quickly. In the aftermath, my
mother helped me back to bed and then charged me that if I did not get to
sleep, Santa would not be able to stop at our house.
As I remember it, I
took that warning very seriously, as I
remember feeling like I had to lay perfectly still on the bed, and not risk
moving a muscle or even turning my head!
I think I fell
asleep quickly, because the next thing I remember was my mother back in my
bedroom, telling me that it was morning, and that Santa Claus had come!
Now, I could hardly
tell you what I gifts I opened that morning, but I have never forgotten that
feeling of waking up and sensing that the greatest hopes of my little heart had
been fulfilled. That, for me, was a moment of pure joy!
I share that story
with you because the way I felt that morning helps remind me, in the smallest
degree, of the joy made possible through God's first Christmas gift to each of
us: Jesus Christ and His Atonement.
Alma 7:10-13
10 And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem
which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen
vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost,
and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.
11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and
afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be
fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his
people.
12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose
the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their
infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh,
that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to
their infirmities.
13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the
Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the
sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to
the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in
me.
The joy I’m talking
about this afternoon, for me, is the joy of remembering and feeling that He
loves us, that we are His children, and that He cares so much about us that He
numbers the very hairs of our heads (Luke 12:7).
It is the joy of
feeling that in His care, regardless of circumstance, all good things are
possible.
It is also the joy
of His calming the recurring storms of forgetful discouragement and doubt that
come, when sometimes no good thing feels possible.
For me, in the midst
of difficulties, it is the joy of feeling His gentle, reassuring reminders to
not be afraid (Mark 6:50). To be at peace (Luke 24:36). To be of good cheer (Matthew 14:27). To trust Him, do my best,
and then leave the rest to Him (Joseph B. Worthlin, "Come What May and Love It," October 2008).
It is the joy,
brothers and sisters, of feeling His forgiveness for my mistakes, including
those I seem to keep making over and over again.
And it is the joy of
feeling His pleasure when I try again (and again) to make even the smallest
effort to move toward Him.
Jesus Christ is my
Savior, for everything that that means. And His birth really was the "dawn of
redeeming grace" ("Silent Night", words by Joseph Mohr, trans. by John F. Young). For each us.
I don't seem to
remember that as often as I could. But sometimes I do, and sometimes those
reminders of Him and His kindness are breathtaking and so much more profound
than what I felt on that Christmas morning all those years ago.
It is the hope of my
heart that you and I may more often remember Him and feel the joy of His best
gifts to us, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
