Published by Howard/Simon & Schuster
Now available in bookstores and online
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year offers dozens of creative ideas for making your holiday celebrations more meaningful and heartwarming. You’ll be inspired to create a celebration that speaks to the heart instead of buying into the typical holiday frenzy. This encouraging book also brings a spiritual focus that emphasizes the love of God and nurturing a more personal faith.
Along with 101 inspirational meditations, you’ll find quotes, scripture verses, and simple tips that help you choose easier ways to savor the season and make the most of every precious moment. From singing favorite carols to sharing lots of hugs, from finding the perfect gift to offering a helping hand, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year helps you reconnect to the authentic spirit of Christmas in practical and profound ways.
Christmas can be a wonderful time of year. Getting together with loved ones, giving gifts, and celebrating favorite traditions are just a few of the things to love about this special season.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year offers simple ideas for making the season brighter and merrier. From singing favorite carols to sharing lots of hugs, from finding the perfect gift to baking Christmas treats, it reminds you that there are many wonderful activities and experiences you can create and savor.
It also is a reminder to keep the spirit of Christmas in your heart by living in the presence of God, slowing down, taking time to give to those in need, and remembering what the birth of Christ really means. May the love of God be the benediction in everything you do and say during this wondrous and joyous time of year.
Invocation: A Christmas Prayer
As we celebrate the birth of Christ, let our hearts be tender and our hands work for the peace of all. May we honor him by loving one another as God so loved the world when he gave his beloved Son.
May we receive all the gifts that the season has to offer with open hands and grateful hearts. And may we cherish the beauty of this season, treasuring the moments and creating memories that will bless us for the rest of our lives.
Amen
Meditation # 1
Remember the Reason for the Season
Christmas is a time of color, excitement, beauty, and tradition. In the midst of shopping for the perfect gift, decorating the tree, and gathering with loved ones, take time to remember the reason for the season. This year, make your Christmas more meaningful by meditating on the life of the Christ child who was born in that stable in Bethlehem two thousand years ago.
Read a Christmas devotional book that takes you through the season and talks about what God’s love means in your life today. Meditate on the meaning of God in human form, bringing transforming love to every aspect of your life here and now.
The Word of God, Jesus Christ, on account of his great love for mankind, became what we are in order to make us what he is himself.
Saint Iraneus
• Sing (or read) all of the verses of famous carols like “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” or “Silent Night” to remind yourself of the true meaning of Christmas.
Meditation #22
Look Up at the Stars
The stars are wheeling overhead, pinpoints of light in an infinite darkness. There is something splendid and awesome about staring up at a starry sky and feeling how small you are in the light of eternity. Though you feel smaller under that canopy of open sky, you also know that the God who created all those stars is here with you, in human heart and human home.
Go outside. Take advantage of a clear winter night sky to look up at the stars and down into your heart. Be reminded that life is greater than the common round. Remember who you are under the stars.
It takes solitude, under the stars, for us to be reminded of our eternal origin and our far destiny.
Archibald Rutledge
• Put your coat on and go stargaze for at least a few minutes on a clear cold night. Enjoy the view of lighted windows, also, before you go back inside.
