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Dorothy Copus Brush Keep in mind the real meaning of Christmas December is a time for reflection on the year
about to pass. But for those who have stored memories of many
long-gone Decembers, the most cherished thoughts are those that
focus on a few that carried the real message of Dec. 25. Christmas has many faces. As children that
jolly old elf, Santa Claus, is all important. One anonymous writer
took it beyond childhood with thoughts on the four stages of
life. 1) You believe in Santa Claus, 2) You don't believe in
Santa Claus, 3) You are Santa Claus, 4) You look like Santa Claus. Remember how exciting were those days when
you believed? It took me a long time to reach the second stage
and truth be told I still believed but secretly. As our family
increased, the third stage was hectic but fun. The last and fourth
stage I'll ignore. As the fantasies of childhood faded, giving
became more important than receiving. Robert Louis Stevenson
gave us a poem which expressed the real reason for the season.
"A Christmas Prayer," in part, says, Loving Father, help us to remember the
birth of Jesus, His words, written in the 1800s, are appropriate
in these waning days of December 2001 as millions pray, "Close
the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world." I can never forget Christmas Eve, 1968, when
the first prayer from space was spoken to those of us Earth bound.
Santa's sleigh had to share the skies with Apollo 8. Aboard were
three astronauts, Command Pilot Frank Borman, James Lovell Jr.
and William Anders, the first humans to venture to another body
in the solar system. On Dec. 23, they entered the "moon's
sphere of gravitational influence," and in this alien space,
they made 10 revolutions around the moon, photographing the surface
as a prelude to a moon landing later. As they looked down on
Earth 214,000 miles below, Cmdr. Borman spoke this prayer to
a listening world: Give us, O God, the vision - Which can see thy love in the world in spite of human failure. Give us the faith to trust goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness. Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts, and show us what each one of us can do to set forward the coming of the day - of universal peace. Amen. · · · |