Saturday night I went to the Glenn Beck Christmas Show with my mom. It was one of the most incredible programs I have ever seen. He related several personal stories to different things associated with Christmas: family, shopping, gifts, snow, peace, etc. There was a lot of humor, a lot of reminiscing and some tears. I actually cried through a lot of the second half of the program.
He told a very touching story about the last Christmas before his mom committed suicide. He said that he was a stupid 12 year old kid and didn't know how poor his family was or how much they were struggling. He recalled going to the tree and finding one gift, it was a sweater. He said his mom kept asking him things like "Do you like it?" and "Does it fit?" He remembered her holding it up to him to see how it would fit, and could almost feel her hands on his shoulders. Two months after Christmas he was in his room and his mom came in to talk to me. She saw the sweater lying on the floor and said "Is that the sweater I gave you for Christmas?" It was then that he kind of realized what a gift that was. She searched for the most perfect gift she could give him with the last $20 she had.
He said that his mom never understood something, that we have the opportunity to find peace and ultimately, redemption. He used that as a way to lead into the true meaning of Christmas. It's not the birth of Christ, it's the gift that He has given us as our Savior and Redeemer. He talked about what it will be like to meet the Savior and how we will be accountable for what we have done with His gift. He mentioned the sweater again. He said that our lives are Christ's gift to us (and I'm paraphrasing this); "This was my gift to you, and what have you done with it?" He had so much emotion and passion in the message he was giving, it was very powerful. It really touched me and has given me some things to think about the last several days. The line that stuck with me the most was "Become the person you were meant to be and stop being the person you've allowed yourself to become."
Wow. It really was a great way to remind me of what the Christmas season is about, and I have thought so much about it the last few days. I also appreciated his willingness to share his story about his conversion to the LDS church. It was really neat to hear.
2 comments:
That is touching. Especially the use of the sweater and God's gift to us.
Well, you know how religious I am, but I loved this quote...
Become the person you were meant to be and stop being the person you've allowed yourself to become.
So true. I am goign to use that at my next team meeting. It's very powerful :)
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