Skip to main content

True Meaning of Christmas!

Just a week before Christmas I had a visitor. This is how it happened. I opened the door to the front room and to my surprise, Santa himself stepped out next to the fireplace.


"What are you doing?" I started to ask. The words choked up in my throat and I saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager, boisterous soul we all know. He then answered me with a simple statement . . .

"TEACH THE CHILDREN!" I was puzzled. What did he mean? As I stood bewildered, Santa said, "Teach the children!

Teach them the old meaning of Christmas. The meaning that now- a-days Christmas has forgotten. "Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a FIR TREE and placed it before the mantle. "Teach the children that the pure green color of the stately fir tree remains green all year round, depicting the everlasting hope of mankind, all the needles point heavenward, making it a symbol of man's thoughts turning toward heaven."


He again reached into his bag and pulled out a brilliant STAR. "Teach the children that the star was the heavenly sign of promises long ago. God promised a Savior for the world, and the star was the sign of fulfillment of His promise."

He then reached into his bag and pulled out a CANDLE. "Teach the children that the candle symbolizes that Christ is the light of the world, and when we see this great light we are reminded of He who displaces the darkness."

Once again he reached into his bag and removed a WREATH and placed it on the tree. "Teach the children that the wreath symbolizes the real nature of love. Real love never ceases. Love is one continuous round of affection."

He then brought out a HOLLY LEAF. "Teach the children that the holly plant represents immortality. It represents the crown of thorns worn by our Savior. The red holly berries represent the blood shed by Him.

Next he pulled from his bag a GIFT and said, "Teach the children that God so loved the world that he gave his begotten son." Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.

Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a CANDY CANE and hung it on the tree. "Teach the children that the candy cane represents the shepherds' crook.

He reached in again and pulled out an ANGEL. "Teach the children that it was the angels that heralded in the glorious news of the Savior's birth. The angels sang Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace and good will toward men."

Suddenly I heard a soft twinkling sound, and from his bag he pulled out a BELL,. "Teach the children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should ring mankind to the fold. The bell symbolizes guidance and return.




Santa looked back and was pleased. He looked back at me and I saw that the twinkle was back in his eyes. He said, "Remember, teach the children the true meaning of Christmas and do not put me in the center, for I am but a humble servant of the One that is, and I bow down to worship him, our LORD, our GOD."

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Many Blessings in 2014!
Ken Willers


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Teach the Child NOT the Subject

A story for everyone to read.  The Animal School  by George Reavis Once upon a time, the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of a “new world.” So they organized a school. They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming, and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects. The duck was excellent in swimming, in fact better than his instructor; but he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running. This was kept up until his webfeet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school, so nobody worried about that except the duck. The rabbit started at the top of the class in running, but had a nervous breakdown because of so much make- up work in swimming. The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustra...

Minecraft - The Madeleine & EdTech

As thousands of video game developers pour into San Francisco for the annual Game Developers Conference, your school-age kids may have only one game on their minds -- Minecraft. The game is a global phenomenon. And now, an educational startup is using it to help inspire the inventors and game developers of tomorrow. What could possibly have all so many kids anxiously staring at one screen? Maybe you've heard of it. It's a game called Minecraft. When asked what Minecraft is, School of the Madeleine Principal Ken Willers said, "I don't know if i can explain it! Actually, if we call over one of the kids, I'll let them explain it." "Minecraft is just very addicting because you can do whatever you want," said fifth-grader Aiden Kress. Fellow fifth-grader Walter Acevedo added, "You can build massive structures and it's pretty much, you just let your mind create." It's a virtual world that's been taking the real world by...

Resources for STEM

Please find the following links for STEM/STEAM resources: http://www.theatlantic.com/ sponsored/chevron-stem- education/the-jobs-of-today/ 196/#   https://www.nsf.gov/ attachments/117803/public/Xc-- Linking_Evidence--Fairweather. pdf http://www.aaai.org/Papers/ Symposia/Spring/2007/SS-07-09/ SS07-09-022.pdf http://opas.ous.edu/Work2009- 2011/InClass/Bybee-Integrated% 20STEM%20Plan.pdf http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ ejournals/JOTS/v36/v36n1/ rockland http://youtu.be/5GWhwUN9iaY . STEM? http://youtu.be/biWQZlUl-vE   Tools for Change  http://youtu.be/Ldf01YYtImY   Why STEM Education http://www.youtube.com/ playlist?list=PL7ck4NnpyNff_ F653mGHRf4EDwuS6IQfJ . Great videos about STEM ed http://youtu.be/SA3EPf9tsI8   Gaming Challenge.  http://www.stemedcoalition.org  Coalition http://www.pbs.org/teachers/ stem/  Teachers Organization on PBS http://mobile.nytimes.com/ 2013/12/08/opinion/sunday/w...