Christmas holidays kept peaceful

Mary Neale Stutt

I'll never forget one year when my husband and I were preparing to go away with the children for the Christmas holidays. I had been writing Christmas cards, stringing lights in the living room, baking—the whole bit. I was frankly dreading the trip, as this holiday season was getting me down! Our toddler was fussing, and the baby wouldn't settle down to nurse.

Then came our departure day. My husband had left for work early in the morning. He was to return at noon when we'd be starting off in the car. When he stepped in the door at ten after twelve, however, the car wasn't packed, the children weren't ready, and I was nursing the baby. He didn't say a word but looked at me as if to say, "What have you been doing all morning?" I'd been working nonstop!

I never had a repeat of those particular circumstances, but for many years following I dreaded the month of December. I knew Christmas was supposed to be a time of peace and goodwill, and yet for me it was anything but that.

One year as the holidays were approaching, I wondered if there was a way to change things in our household to avoid the frenzy I had previously experienced. I had always loved the story of Jesus' birth in the Bible, especially the account in Luke telling about Mary and Joseph when Mary "brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger" (2:7).

I thought, "When we honor Christmas, what would Jesus have wanted us to celebrate? Would he have wanted us to go through the stores in a mad rush, searching for gifts? Would he have wanted us to celebrate his coming by experiencing stress or strain of any kind?" I felt that Jesus would have wanted above all that we be at peace.

Science and Health sheds light on this subject: "Christ, Truth, was demonstrated through Jesus to prove the power of Spirit over the flesh,—to show that Truth is made manifest by its effects upon the human mind and body, healing sickness and destroying sin." A few lines later we read, "Christ illustrates that blending with God, his divine Principle, which gives man dominion over all the earth" (p. 316).

If Christ "gives man dominion," that means I should have dominion over the human demands on me as a mother preparing my family to celebrate Christmas. It didn't mean I should drop my responsibilities, but that I should be at peace because I was exercising my God-given dominion.

After praying, I felt led to take God with me, so to speak, both before and while executing the chores I had to do. If I was to celebrate the Christ in my heart, I should fulfill each task with joy.

That was a turning point in my life. Every Christmas after that (and the rest of the year, too), I have felt the Christ beside me, inspiring each thought and deed. When I select a gift, I ask for guidance in the right selection. When I wrap each present, I think of the joy of the one receiving it. And when I am in the kitchen, I will often say, "All right, Father, I know I'm not alone. You are right here helping me. I'm so happy we can do this together!" When I'm tempted to dwell on the long list of jobs yet to be accomplished, I focus instead on Christ, strengthening my every effort. Doing this has erased all burden or rush from the holidays.

Now I can honestly join in the spirit of Christ in singing, "A joyous Christmas to all!"

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