Of four seasons, I prefer
Winter to other ones because of Christmas. As every child, I dreamed
of Santa Claus appearing one day and giving me a gift which I had
longed for. Until I grew up a little, I never received
any gifts from Santa Claus. I began to go around the
city seeing splendid and colourful lights, taking pictures at every
scene, having parties with my friends from Christmas Eve through
the following day, exchanging gifts to one another.
Many Christmas seasons had gone
by, I did not know what Christmas really means. One day, I had
a chance to meet a pastor who explained to me the true
meaning of Christmas. He told me that his children always longed for gifts
at Christmas night. Then he asked them: “What if on your
birthday everybody will celebrate, shake hands, exchange wishes to
each another, do everything they like, but nobody cares for you.
How do you feel?”. “No, my birthday is very special to me…”,
the youngest child cried out sadly. The father embraced him and said softly:
“My beloved, so Christmas is not your birthday, is it? As you know, Christmas
is the birthday of Jesus who is our God. We should offer him our gifts”. The eldest
child asked her father: “What gift should we offer him, dad?” The
father gently replied: “Just our love, the honest love that we share with
members of our family, our relatives, our neighbours, our friends and also with
people we meet in our lives, because Jesus is love”.
From this story, I recalled all my
Christmas seasons and said to myself: “Why did I always want to
receive a gift at Christmas night? How ridiculous I was”. Now I
contemplate the Bethlehem scene with all my thankful heart and I
see the love that Jesus brought to the world in every person because
Jesus stays in us all.
Maria Nguyễn Thị Kim Hạnh
