Article December 17, 2012 ISSUE

New joys at Christmas

Cathryn Bartlett Rathsam

After I’d spent a special Christmas Eve with my sons and their girlfriends, I planned to spend Christmas Day quietly cherishing the gift of Christ Jesus’ birth, life, and ministry. As I was praying that morning about how to share this supreme gift with others, the question came: “Does everyone in my community know the real reason for this holy day?” As we all know, Christmas has become a buying bonanza. And in some public spaces, mentioning the birth of Jesus at Christmastime is frowned upon.

More ideas flooded my thought, and I felt led to act on them in this way. First, I printed up two signs. They said: “Do you know the story of the birth of Jesus?” and “Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men” (a paraphrase of Luke 2:14). I put the signs in standing frames, and along with a tablecloth, holiday runner, nativity scene, cookies and dates, a couple of different Bible translations, and several illustrated children’s books on the nativity of Jesus, took off to my local harbor.