Thursday, December 26, 2013

Merry Christmas 2013: We Return After A Month’s Absence

Spirit of ChristmasThursdays we discuss how reusable materials can help WOW committees and save time

Before we begin today’s post, we would like to apologize for not posting a blog since November 19. My life got very busy just before and immediately after Thanksgiving Day. The hectic nature of hiring someone (see my blog www.LarryonCareers.blogspot.com for more details) occupied my time and attention. I could not muster the intellect to write. I apologize for the lack of substance for the last month. I will try to compensate for the lost weeks with solid content in the future. But first…

Enjoy the Messages of A Christmas Carol

I read The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens each year at this time. I also watch several film versions of the book. I enjoy the comedy of Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol which was available on www.HuluPlus.com. I love to sing the songs from Albert Finney’s Scrooge “Thank you very much”. I think George C. Scott’s delivers a great performance as Ebenezer Scrooge delivering “Humbug, Bah” without sounding like a cliché.

Patrick Stewart’s rendition of A Christmas Carol, however, shares a segment of the book the other versions disregard. In this movie, the spirit of Christmas present takes Scrooge on a journey of through the mines of Wales, a lighthouse, ship in a storm, and people in a Church all to the tune of Silent Night. In addition, Scrooge attends a worship service before visiting his nephew’s party. 

Let Us Bring the Spirit of Christ Into Christmas

I also watched several videos on YouTube that emphasized the peace that surrounds a Christ-centered Christmas rather than a commercial, mall-centered season. Those videos calmed my soul and brought peace to our home. We avoided a lot of shopping this year.

Our family followed the encouragement offered by Thomas S. Monson in the meme at the beginning of this post. We focused our celebration on dropping the last syllable from “the spirit of Christmas” and focused on “the spirit of Christ”. We encourage you to do the same.

Saturday we share how involving friends enhances your success applying for scholarships

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.