The Love of the Season

Awakening early in the morning, it was a time for celebration.  Christmas comes only once a year and this Christmas was more special than most.  As a child, Christmas was the time of year for wishing and hoping for the gifts and toys I longed to receive.  However, this Christmas my family and I would be celebrating my young nephew’s first Christmas.  I was, at this time, a young boy in his early teens, but it was then that I learned the meaning of Christmas.  Christmastime is not a time to celebrate what we receive; nor is it a time to celebrate what we give.  Rather, it is a time to celebrate the love and warmth of the season which is greater than any gift could ever be.  This love transcends to the love of family, which transcends to the love of mankind, which transcends to the love of one’s self, which creates the desire in us to be better people.

My family and I did not have much money, but we wanted to make my nephew’s first Christmas special.  It was at this time that I recognized what Christmas actually embodies.  Although the choice of gifts is important, giving is only part of the celebration of Christmas.  The actual meaning of Christmas is to share the love of which the season encompasses.   At this time I came to know that, with the season of Christmas, comes recognition of the love and warmth that our lives can bring.

That year the Christmas lights and the Christmas tree, which were standard in our household, brought with them more meaning.  Christmas movies which in the past served as no more than entertainment, now warmed my heart like they had never before.  Christmas music came with it an emotional appeal which not only communicates the love of the season, but also the brotherhood of mankind.    

I now wait for Christmas eagerly every year.  I take joy in the gifts that I receive, but more so in the love the season brings with it.  The gifts that I receive are now tokens of love from family and friends which represent the warmth of the season.  The gifts that I bestow also represent my feelings of love and I take great care selecting them in an attempt to convey the sentiment that I feel.

More than the gifts that I receive or the gifts that I give, Christmas is special because of the love and warmth that can be felt during the holiday season.  The spirit of Christmas, abounding with lights and majesty, highlights the feelings of the season that, each of us at our best, wish to embrace.  Christmas movies cause misty eyes with the heart-felt stories that they share.  Christmas music brings feelings of sentimentality with the lyrics and feelings it pronounces.  The spirit of the season brings love to us all.

The love of Christmas is not only shared by my friends and family, but also in the reverence for mankind for which it brings.  The love that is shared during the season is palpable.  Children’s love of the holiday reflects our own with our maturity in not only receiving, but in giving.   However, the presents, the lights, and the music are not the most tangible examples of the love that can be found in the season; rather it is the actuality of creating in ourselves the kind of people we would like to be.  The love that we feel for Christmas translates to the love of family, the love of mankind, and, most importantly, the love for ourselves.