Dear Friends,

We have all been there before. Each year we are determined not to get so carried away with the commercial and social expectations of Christmas that we miss the awesome gift of Jesus being born among us. We promise ourselves that this year we will keep our priorities straight and focus on what is most important.

In that vein, the following anonymous rewrite of the Thirteenth Chapter of the First Letter to the Corinthians struck me. As we move into Advent and prepare to celebrate Christmas, I hope you will also find it a helpful reminder of what is most important, underlying all the tasks and responsibilities asked of us in the coming month.

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny glass balls, but do not show love, I am just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love, I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir's cantata, but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the spouse.

Love doesn't envy another home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of your way.

Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. Video games will break; pearl necklaces will be lost; golf clubs will rust. But giving the gift of love will endure.

One last thought: Even if (as will certainly be the case) we look back from January and see that we have fallen short again, our faith bids us to remember that it is ultimately God's love that endures and never fails. We are forgiven! Relish the gift of Advent and of Christmas.

- Stephen