“The stockings were hung by the chimney with care…” was a phrase that always puzzled me as a child. We didn’t have a fireplace so there was no where to hang any stockings. I wondered how Santa was going to get into our house to deliver our presents. When I asked my parents they told me that for houses without fireplaces he would come in under the front door. I was convinced and was never disappointed on Christmas morning.
It amazing the things we believe when we want to badly enough. Even if it doesn’t make logical sense we leave the blanks alone and keep the parts we want. These are the things we tell ourselves and others to make sense of this strange and complicated world. Christmas isn’t a holiday about gift giving and getting what we want. Christmas is a holiday based on faith. Faith in people, faith in the power of love, faith in the idea that everyone in the world is worthy of a special gift no matter how it arrives. It doesn’t have to make logical sense. Believing that Santa can come in under the front door is a chance to have faith that some things we simply won’t understand, yet they still come true.
So what do you want to find in your stocking this Christmas? Courage, strength, self confidence, or maybe just an opportunity to do something special for someone else. No matter how big or how small it is, what you want is worth the effort, especially if it will make the world a better place for someone else. It’s not about the stuff, it’s about the effort and thought behind the gift.
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