The Secret of Christmas...

A friend recently wrote an entry on his blog that struck a cord with me. It is a gentle reminder of what this time of year is truly about.

I must admit that - though I love Christmas - this year it has been hard to feel the Spirit of the Season.  In all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season sometimes it is easy to forget that the greatest gift of all was not bought at Walmart or Macy's or even Sak's Fifth Avenue but was delivered in a humble stable. It didn't come wrapped in ribbons and paper, but in swaddling clothes instead. It was not placed in layers of velvet or silk, but in a manger filled with hay.

When I was younger, I remember learning a song for a Christmas program that expresses so succinctly much of what I feel about this time of year.

"The secret of Christmas is not the things you do at Christmas time, but the Christmas things you do all year through...."