President Barney has ask that we address the Gifts of Christmas this month. If you will lend me your senses for the next few moments I would like you to picture yourself gathered around a christmas tree. Maybe picture the one that you have at home this year or maybe it is one of the favorite ones that you remember as a child. Now take a big deep breath and smell the fresh scent that the pine provides in the room.
There are many symbols that we relate to christmas. The tree itself gave it's life that our home may be brighter and it's fragrance causes' us to remember what time of year it is. It is suggested that one of the symbols for the tree is the life of Christ.
Under the tree we usually place our Gifts. Our gifts of Gold, frankincense, and myrrh that we purchase in this life to show our affection for each other.
As a child I used to sometimes pick up the packages and shake them, feel them through the wrapping and sometimes even bend back a corner of the wrapping to give clues to what lay inside. My Mother called it snooping. Now; snooping still leaves a little supense because you are usually not totally sure of the contents, nor can you hold or play with them. If I may in the next minutes I would like to snoop into those gifts that are under our eternal tree. Let's take a look by not unwrapping them completely but just folding back the edges a little bit to expose a brief look at what is inside.
the Gift of Charity
If there is a season of charity, it is now. During these weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, our hearts tend to be touched by those in need. And, more than at any other time of year, we tend to be more responsive to those needs.
At this season, we seem to have a heightened awareness of the plight of the poor, the homeless, the lonely, the aged, the ill and the infirm. We tend to make more visits to hospitals and nursing homes during these weeks than we do during the remainder of the year. We add our coins, currency and checks to contributions others make to churches, community groups and charitable organizations that provide food, clothing, toys and other commodities to low-income, homeless or otherwise needy families and individuals.
We feel the tug of emotions at our hearts when we realize there are children whose youthful wishes probably won't be delivered this year. Many of us at one time or another have seen such children casting yearning and sidelong glances at the bounty received by others when they received little or nothing themselves.
Many of us want to do more for others. One woman thought she had found a way. She suggested that everyone in her family receive only one gift; the money usually spent on the other presents could be used to buy food, clothing and toys for a needy family.
The children in her own family had a gluttony of gifts. In past years, they received presents from two sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and parents, in addition to the those they exchanged among each other and their friends. Finding gifts for them was becoming difficult&emdash;it seemed they already had everything. Each had bicycles and dozens of toys. They had video games and records. Their closets were full of clothes, and they had all sorts of sports equipment. She didn't think they would miss anything if they received only one gift each that year. However, when she presented her idea to her family, the youngest child, with a voice echoing disappointment, asked, "You want us to get only one gift?" The oldest, a little more mature, said, "It would be nice to help somebody else, but I really need all the things on my list. Couldn't we get all our gifts and still help someone else?"
The woman said, "I came to the painful realization that in all my giving to them over the years, I had failed to give these children an understanding of what Christmas really represents. I had helped start and perpetuate family traditions, from decorating trees to baking cookies, wrapping presents, and attending&emdash;with some of us participating in&emdash; church plays.
"And we sang seasonal songs, one of which invites, 'O, come, let us adore Him.' But I had not taught those I love most what it really means to adore the son of God."
Come, let us adore Him. How, and when, do we do that? One way is to serve Heavenly Father's children. And, certainly, we should "adore Him" all year long, not just during a few brief weeks near the end of the calendar year. Is it possible to really adore the son of God if we refuse to share our bounty with Heavenly Father's children who are in need?
Following along with the gift of charity comes
The Gift of Service
The stores are crowded these days. In varying degrees of anxiety and frustration, the search goes on for just the right gift. Now I would suggest to you that this commercialization is not all bad. The effort to check off the gift list, within the budget constraints most of us face, requires a turning of thoughts to others, away from self. That's an important part of Christmas.
But there's so much more. If to the gift list is added the gift of service&emdash;to friends and family, certainly, but also to those who badly need such help. Then our giving can be complete, not only to fellowmen, but also to Him whose gift is the greatest of all gifts and what Christmas is all about.
For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and ye took me in....&emdash;Matt. 25:35-36.
At a dinner or in a group, notice yourself. Do you take up a large share of the conversation time?
As a parent can you take precious time to listen to a son or daughter tell you about what the young people are wearing, or what the teacher said? If we do, without interrupting, we find they'll talk to us when they are really troubled because they've learned that we really listen and care.
Gift of Love
the Gift of Life
Almost any time we pick up the daily paper we are reminded that life is tenuous. It can end without warning, and had better be lived fully, responsibly and productively, while there is time.
A phrase in King Benjamin's address to his people makes the unforgettable point:
"I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another&emdash;I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants. " (Mosiah 2:21.)
By lending you breath; what an insightful key to the mystery of mortal existence. Our bodies, our minds, our abilities, our very breath are on loan from our Creator.
There are certain things about loans that we all need to understand.
One is that this kind of loan can be called at any time, at the lender's will, without recourse or argument or explanation. That's the condition on which we accept the loan. If it's called earlier than expected, sorrow is appropriate, but certainly not bitterness or feelings of injustice.
Another is that we are expected to return the loaned object in good condition, excepting normal wear and tear. Those who say, "It's my body, and no one can tell me what to do with it," don't understand. It isn't their body. It's a loan. To damage it carelessly is irresponsible and shameful.
A third thing about loans is that there's an interest charge attached. The lender expects a profit. He expects us to improve our talents, not bury them. He expects service to our fellow men as the interest we pay. It's true that the loan is so magnificent that, no matter how hard we try, what we repay can't possibly represent profitable interest by earthly standards. But the Lord's bookkeeping isn't based on earthly standards.
In His unimaginable generosity, ". . . all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments . . . [and] if ye do keep his comm.andments he doth bless you and prosper you. " (Mosiah 2:22.)
the Gift of Eternal Life
Christmas itself&emdash;the event it celebrates &emdash;is the ultimate example of perfect giving. What greater gift could the Father offer than that of His Firstborn? What greater gift of love and caring and sacrifice could the son offer than Himself that we may receive forgiveness for our sins and gain eternal life?
He said "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13.) He willingly gave His life. He went through agony both in body and spirit, which we cannot comprehend, to give to us the glorious blessings of the Atonement and the Resurrection. (See D&C 19:15-19.)
some men are willing to die for their faith, but they are not willing to fully live for it. Christ both lived and died for us. Through His atonement and by walking in His steps, we can gain the greatest gift of all; eternal life, which is the kind of life of our Father in Heaven.
the Gift of Time
Time, some say, is life's most precious commodity. If it were placed on the open market, trading would be swift.
Benjamin Franklin said: "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that's the stuff life is made of." (Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.)
An anonymous individual wrote this:
"In my dreams I came to a beautiful building, somehow like a bank, and yet not a bank because the brass marker said, 'Time for Sale.'
"I saw a man, breathless and pale, painfully pull himself up the stairs like a sick man. I heard him say: 'The doctor told me I was five years too late in going to see him. I will buy those five years now&emdash;and then he can save my life.'
"Then came another man; also who said to the clerk: 'When it was too late, I discovered that God had given me great capacities and endowments, and I failed to develop them. Sell me 10 years so that I can be the man I would have been.'
"Then came a younger man to say: 'The company has told me that starting next month I can have a big job if I am prepared to take it. But I am not prepared. Give me two years of time so that I will be prepared to take the job next month.'
"so they came, ill, hopeless, despondent, worried, unhappy&emdash;and they left smiling, each man with a look of unutterable pleasure on his face, for he had what he so desperately needed and wanted&emdash;time.
"Then I awakened, glad that I had what these men had not, and what they could never buy&emdash;time. Time to do so many things I wanted to do, that I must do. If that morning I whistled at my work, it was because a great happiness filled my heart. For I still had time, if I used it well." (Cited by President Spencer W. Kimball, April 1974 general conference.)
We can earn money through the prudent use of time, but no amount of money can purchase us more hours, days, weeks, months or years.
Money unlike time can be placed in an account to accumulate and be drawn upon at a later date. We can save it, hoard it, guard it, lend it to others and, in some cases, waste or lose it and then regain it. A number of people never even use it. They die leaving untouched fortunes to heirs, charities or government.,.
Time cannot be so stockpiled, loaned or transferred to others. And wasted time can never be regained. The prophet Alma declared: " . . . if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed." (Al. 34:33.)
the Gift of Hope
In USA today; a story was reported of a young child on Santas knee asking "Why can't I have everything I want?" To which the department store Santa Claus replied.
'Because, then there would be nothing left to hope for."
Simple as it seems, it declares a very profound Christmas message. At both the material and spiritual levels, hope is the essence of Christmas.
Hope is what makes each brightly wrapped package so full of possibilities. For the receiver, anticipation is the magic of Christmas.
It is so for the giver as well. The more love and care that have gone into selecting the gift, the keener the anticipation, the hope, that this gift will prove to be exactly right.
In part because of those hopes, Christmas Eve is, in most homes, the best part of Christmas. But there is more, far more.
In the quiet expectancy of Christmas Eve, before the hectic materialism of the day itself, there is time for deeper hopes.
There is the hope for stronger family bonds, for more love and mutual support among neighbors and friends, for lives more enriched by precious human contact.
There is the hope that what began in that stable will really change lives, that men will really begin to love their enemies and bless and do good to and pray for them.
There is the hope that as mankind is elevated in the light of Christ, there can actually come peace on earth, good will to men.
so far, the record isn't encouraging. In 2,000 years since that holy night, there has hardly been peace on earth. But Christmas is hope.
It is a time to reflect that, grim as our prospects seem today, this is nothing new. Grim, indeed, were the prospects of the shepherds huddled that night on the hills outside Bethlehem.
Palestine squirmed under the rule of a tyrannical, bloodthirsty Roman puppet, a ruler so depraved in his madness he would soon order the slaughter of all male infants.
In such a place at such a time, hollow indeed to those without hope must have sounded the message: "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.... " (Luke 2:10.)
The world has always had its Herods, and always will until the end comes. But God can and does change human hearts. He can and does replace greed with compassion, hatred with love. Not for all men and at all times has such change come. But enough that mankind has always survived the Herods.
the Gift of the Example of Christ
For unto us a child is born, unto us a child is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.&emdash;Isaiah 9:6
First, He gave us the perfect model&emdash;Himself&emdash; after which we are to pattern our lives.
Christ asked the question, "What manner of men ought [we] to be?" He then answered by saying we ought to be even as He is. (3 Ne. 27:27.)
The man that is greatest and most blessed and joyful whose life most closely approaches the pattern of the Christ. This has nothing to do with earthly wealth, power, or prestige. The only true test of greatness, blessedness, joyfulness is how close a life can come to being like the Master, Jesus Christ. He is the right way, the full truth, and the abundant life.
The constant and most recurring question in our minds, touching every thought and deed of our lives, should be, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6.) The answer to that question comes only through the Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost. Fortunate are those who so live that their being is filled with both.
President Benson Said "We have a work to do&emdash;to follow Him:"
the Gift of His Church
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints&emdash;"the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth." (D&C 1:30.) There is no salvation or exaltation for us outside of the Church. Through it we receive baptism, priesthood, celestial marriage, and other vital ordinances. The Church is the organized means which God uses to establish and expand His work. We must work with it and in it, build it up, and move it forward.
We should be willing to generously give of our time, talents, and means to the Church. No matter what happens to the world, the Church will grow in strength and will be intact when the Lord comes again.
God has assured us that the Church will never again be taken from the earth because of apostasy. (See D&C 1:30.)
The Church is true. Keep its laws, attend its meetings, sustain its leaders, accept its callings, enjoy its blessings.
the Gift of Scripture
particularly the Book of Mormon.
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared that "the Book of Mormon [is] the most correct book of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion." He said that "a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." (History of the Church, 4:461.)
The Book of Mormon was written for our day. Mormon, who compiled it, saw us in vision and was directed to put into the book those things God felt we would especially need in our time. We therefore should know the Book of Mormon better than any other book. Not only should we know what history and faith-promoting stories it contains, but we should understand its teachings. If we really do our homework and approach the Book of Mormon doctrinally, we can expose the errors and find the truths to combat many of the current false theories and philosophies of men.
Gift of Our Testimonies