This message touched me when I heard it in Sunday School yesterday, and redirected some of my thoughts as Christmas rapidly approaches. It was originally given in December 1994 by President Howard W. Hunter at the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.
Enjoy!
This Christmas,
mend a quarrel.
Seek out a forgotten friend.
Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust.
Wrtite a letter.
Give a soft answer.
Encourage youth.
Manifest your loyalty in word and deed.
Keep a promise.
Forgo a grudge.
Forgive an enemy.
Apologize.
Try to understand.
Examine your demands on others.
Think first of someone else.
Be kind.
Be gentle.
Laugh a little more.
Express your gratitude.
Welcome a stranger.
Gladden the heart of a child.
Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.
Speak your love and then speak it again....
Christmas is a celebration and there is no celebration that compares with the realization of the true meaning of Christmas--with a sudden stirring of the heart that has extended itself unselfishly in the things that matter most.
-President Howard W. Hunter
Merry Christmas!
(photo by maaco on flickr)
