I have been pondering Christmas for a number of reasons.  I guess as I’ve grown older, Christmas does not mean what it once did.  When there was so much fuss over presents and what material items were on our “wish lists,” we have grown to realize that no amount of money spent could come close to comparing to quality time with our loved ones.  It’s not about the material possession that we stand to gain as we gather around the tree anticipating what’s in the boxes underneath the red and green wrapping paper complete with bright shiny bows.  It’s what is inside of our hearts and in our arms that matter most.  If we have unconditional love tucked inside our hearts and the ones that mean the most to us held within our arms, what more could we possibly want or need?

Do we purposely stop to consider what Christmas is all about any way?  We should.  It isn’t about the presents under the tree at all, or at least it shouldn’t be!  The focus should be on Jesus who came into this world as a little tiny baby.  This little one came to save the world!  If we only believe in Him and ask Him into our hearts … why does that seem so hard for so many people when it really is quite simple?

At this time of year everyone seems so much nicer.  They have a smile on their faces and seem more cheerful than they have all year long.  It seems to be the magic in the air around Christmastime, and all of this has gotten me to thinking …

What if it were Christmas all year?

Why can’t it be?

I don’t wish to take away from this special time of year at all.  However, if you think about how everyone is showing more concern, care, and compassion for their fellow man at this time of year, I can’t help but ask:  Why can’t we move that into every day of the year?  Why do we save it for just a month out of the entire year?  When there is so much love inside of your heart, why not share it more often?

If you stop to be kind and considerate to strangers during the month of December because you’re in the spirit of the holidays, why not carry that over to the other 11 months of the year?

If you put priority on helping to feed the homeless and the less fortunate during the last month of the year, are you not concerned about those same individuals as the calendar flips to a new year?

If you strive to help places such as the Women’s Shelter provide clothing for the abused and neglected women and children that now call this place their “home,”  do you not think of them at any other time of the year?  Why now?  Why not more often?  Their struggles are real 365 days a year, not just for one that marks the 25th day of December.

Am I the only one that feels this way?  Or do you feel it, too?  You … there … the one reading this.  Is it resonating with you as well?  What can we as the human race do to help more people, to reach more souls in need on just more than one calendar day a year?

Oh how I wish it could be Christmas all year.