The Christmas Spirit

For as long as I can remember, Christmas has been my favorite time of the year. Houses covered in lights, decorating the family Christmas tree, the anticipation of what gifts might be waiting to be opened. The first present I can remember receiving was a red, Huffy, street bike which I spent the next few days learning painfully how to stay on. As the years went by, the gifts changed from roller-blades and clothes, to video games and DVDs. On my mission Christmas gifts consisted of books my Mission President wouldn't let me read, ties my Mission President wouldn't let me wear, and pictures of gifts that would be waiting for me when I returned home.

As is think about this I am reminded of seven-year-old Michael and his Christmas experience. The newspaper heading read “Christmas Spirit Comes to Michael,” then continued: “For five minutes on Saturday morning, Michael lived in a fantasy world that seven-year olds dream about. He spent the five most exciting minutes of his life in a toy department hauling away every item he could put into, onto, around, and through a grocery cart. And it was all for free.

“That dream-come-true was his prize for winning a contest which sought the number of lights on Salt Lake City's community Christmas tree. His guess was 9,624—one shy of the 9,625 lights on the 65-foot tree which stands on Main Street. Bespectacled, dressed in tennis shoes so he wouldn't slip, and with his two front teeth missing, Michael took the controls of a giant grocery cart he barely could see over at exactly 11:00 A.M.

“Five minutes later...his toy list included a bicycle, two road raceway sets, a Tommy gun, camping set, western rifle, a long toy snake, a dart set, an astro track space toy, and countless small cars.

“Remaining amazingly calm throughout the five minutes, Michael attracted a large crowd of shoppers who moved aside as he pushed his cart through the aisles.”

It is natural for a small child to find this exciting, possibly even the highlight of his holiday season, but our progression in life and in the gospel will bring about opportunities for far more lasting and meaningful holiday memories, particularly when we embrace the spirit of the season and are of service to those around us.

One such opportunity came to a young Bishop who had a family in his ward that had fallen on difficult times. The parents were recently divorced, and the mother, who up to this point had been the homemaker, had taken on several jobs as she struggled to keep up with the bills and raise three young children. The eldest boy had started working to help cover some of the bills, but as he was still in school and had taken over many of the responsibilities his father had once done around the house, as well as helping with his younger siblings, the hours he was able to work were few. As the Christmas season rapidly approached and the family continued to struggle to pay the mortgage and keep food in the house, it became painfully apparent that this year's holidays would be meager at best.

A few days before Christmas, the young Bishop arrived on the door-step of this small family, carrying a Christmas turkey, complete with all the trimmings, and wrapped gifts for the three children. The mother through tears of gratitude hugged her Bishop while the children ran to put the gifts under the tree. The Bishop then sat down with the family and read with them the story of the Nativity found in Luke and left with them his testimony.

In the days that followed, it was apparent that what he had brought to this home was more than a good meal; more than a few presents. His concern and act of kindness towards this family brought a spirit of love and hope. It was charity. It was not in what he had brought, but in why he had stopped by. The taste of the meal would leave and the memory of the toys be forgotten, but the Spirit that was brought into that home would remain.

An unknown author wrote:

I am the Christmas Spirit

I enter the home of poverty, causing pale-faced children to open their eyes wide in pleased wonder

I cause the miser's clutched hand to relax and thus paint a bright spot on his soul

I cause the aged to renew their youth and to laugh in the glad old way

I keep romance alive in the heart of childhood and brighten sleep with dreams woven of magic

I cause eager feet to climb dark stairways with filled baskets, leaving behind them hearts amazed at the goodness of the world

I cause the prodigal to pause a moment on his wild, wasteful way, and send to anxious love some little token that releases glad tears—tears which wash away the hard lines of sorrow

I enter dark prison cells, reminding scarred manhood of what might have been, and pointing forward to good days yet to come

I come softly into the still, white home of pain; and lips that are too weak to speak just tremble in silent, eloquent gratitude

In a thousand ways I cause the weary world to look up into the face of God, and for a little moment forget the things that are small and wretched

I am the Christmas Spirit

It is this spirit that each true Christian seeks. It is the Christ spirit. The Christmas season seems to remind everyone, whether they recognize it or not, to seek out and emulate the Savior of the world. It encourages us to be a little kinder; a little slower to anger; a little more gracious.

In ancient times, the children of Israel looked forward with hope to the time when the Son of God would be born; that he might take upon him the sins of the world. In modern times, we as a church affirm with powerful testimony that he came; that his birth was divine; his life sinless; his atoning sacrifice everlasting. The true Christmas spirit can be found in these truths, and a testimony of these truths will motivate us to spread the message to everyone.

I find it strangely fitting that Jesus' birth is celebrated in December. As the current year comes to a close and a new one begins, we are reminded to look forward with hope and to have our minds and hearts focused on the Savior.

In difficult times of stress and uncertainty it is all the more important to focus on these things. Gaining and acting on a testimony of these truths brings peace to ourselves and those around us, and gives the angelic declaration to the shepherds added meaning, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy...For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)

The Lord's own words to the troubled Book of Mormon prophet Nephi were similar, “Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand,...and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.” (3 Nephi 1:13)

I testify to you that He came. That He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem. That He did fulfill all that He said He would. May we remember and focus on him this season.

We're Rewriting the Bible!

The Associated Press ran a story this past week on a conservative movement to "re-translate" the Bible. The argument made by Andy Schlafly, founder of Conservapedia.com, is that liberal professors have made either translations or interpretations of Bible scriptures and passages to serve an ever growing liberal movement and those incorrect additions to the Bible must be corrected. One of their major examples of inserted liberal views is found in the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 23:34 reads, "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." The Conservative Bible Project contend that this passage, along with others, turn Jesus into "a well meaning social-worker with watered-down platitudes" and that such passages were inserted by liberal scholars, some contemporary, who "probably never looked at an actual ancient manuscript."

So who exactly are Andy Schlafly and the other contributors to the Conservative Bible Project that their view on the authenticity of certain passages of scriptures should be esteemed higher than others? Truth is...they are all amateurs at best. Not one of them holds a degree in ancient religion studies, ancient languages, translation, theology, philosophy, etc. Nothing. So how do they plan on coming up with the most accurate, not only translation, but interpretation of the most published book in the world? With the help of the public of course! Schlafly stated, "The best of the public is better than a group of experts." Apparently anyone can voice their view on the translation, interpretation, and authenticity of any passage of scripture at Conservapedia.com, and the general consensus will decide what is correct.

Are you blanking kidding me?! Let's cut through the PC bull and call this exactly what it is. This is not making scripture more understandable for people today, it's not done out of a necessity for clearer doctrine, it's a reworking of scripture to support a particular political and social agenda. There are passages of scripture that this particular group either doesn't agree with or is ignorant to be able to explain, so they must therefore be mistranslations, or mistakenly interpreted, or added by a secret liberal movement to rid the world of conservatives and their way of thinking, right? (Did my sarcasm get across there?)

One opponent to these Biblical changes is Frank Matera, a professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D. C., and former president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America. Matera said the Bible's roots in a dizzying variety of ancient manuscripts require a lifetime of dedication to master and that, "Most Bible translations are usually done by a group of scholars, precisely so they can balance out each other." I take issue with this form of argument as well. Am I to believe that God is the author of a book, which I am suppose to believe and follow, but can only be understood by years of study of the ancient text and culture of the people who wrote it, much of which has been lost completely; a study that will take a lifetime to master; and that failure to do so will cause me to, because of a lack of understanding of certain doctrines and passages, commit various forms of sins both by commission and omission and that by having these sins on my soul, according to the majority of religions that profess to follow this book, I will be cast down to hell forever? Doesn't exactly sound like a very fair god to me!

Too much emphasis is being placed on the text rather than on the teachings! My work has an evacuation plan in case of a fire. By law the route that should be taken to quickly exit is on a laminated paper on my wall. Now, should a fire alarm go off, all employees can easily look on the map and see the quickest and safest way to exit the building. But what if I feel that isn't enough? Who came up with this map anyway? Is the route on the map really the quickest? Did the designer account for if I decided to hug the inside around the corners or take a wide turn? If I have tennis shoes on, does that affect my overall speed versus dress shoes on this particular carpet? And I wouldn't have used arrows to point the way if I were designing a map, I'd have used dashes, they look more like a person walking. Meaning, I'm burned to death because I missed the whole purpose of the map, to get me out of the blanking building!

Every Christian religion claims to follow the Bible, but the majority of them pick and choose which passages and interpretations they want to follow and believe in. They ignore the passages that conflict with their way of life; that force them to get out of their comfort zones. So many people choose a religion based on which set of morals and principles they are most comfortable with, rather than looking, studying, and praying about which one is correct. This movement to change the Bible again is no different. The Conservative Bible Project wants to change the Bible to match a set of beliefs they want to follow, rather than what they should follow. They are missing the mark. When we die and come face to face with whatever god we may believe in, I do not believe we will be asked to recite the 47th Psalm, or to quote the Torah or the Qur’an. We won't be asked if we knew the proper Hebrew or Greek interpretation of Isaiah or Acts, or if we know which language gives the most accurate translation. I believe we will be expected to account for how we lived. What did we do with what we had and knew? Did we get out of the burning building, or did we get lost in the map?