Christmas Witnessing and Blessings
I have made it a habit during the Christmas season to always wish those I encounter in stores and elsewhere a “Merry Christmas”. When someone initially says “Happy Holidays” to me, my response is “and a Merry Christmas to you.” And you know, there has never been a problem. Frequently, the person appears to be relieved that someone is not playing the politically correct game with them, especially if their store bosses have ordered them to say only the pathetic “Happy Holidays.”
Another witness is through outdoor Christmas decorations. For many years we have had a lighted, manger scene in the front of our house surrounded by many lights on our bushes and tree. The old manger was eventually getting damaged by years of winter weather and I found it took several years to find a replacement. They are no longer anywhere near as available as they used to be. My daughter in Virginia finally found a suitable replacement online that I could order.
The new manger scene is larger and more artsy looking, but it does the job in explicitly witnessing to the reality that Christmas is all about the birth of the Christ child and not about blown up, huge, lighted and moving snowmen, Santas, elves and other figures that we see on many front lawns. We have received a lot of compliments on the manger scene, even from strangers and non-Christians.
Last year, a few days before Christmas, I was also blessed to see a large and beautiful angel statue in a Canadian Tire store that had been drastically reduced in price. That angel is not only now part of our nativity scene, but is kept at the front of the house year-round as a sign of the guardian angel of our home. . .
And of course, the most important Christmas witnessing is to be extra kind, patient, charitable and generous to those we meet during the Christmas season and to take every opportunity that is appropriate to refer to the holiness of this great commemoration of the birth of the Savior of the world. Visiting the sick and inviting in the lonely witness to the love of Christ for all of mankind. (Read more from “Christmas Witnessing and Blessings” HERE)
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