Take a little time this Christmas season
“The cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon, little boy blue and the man in the moon. When you coming home dad, I don’t know when, we’ll get together then son, you know we’ll have a good time then.”
So sang Harry Chapin in this deeply moving song. Can you hear the music as you read those words?
These beautiful lyrics can pull us back from hectic moments, reminding us that we have divinely appointed duties that must not be delegated to others.
As we celebrate Christmas this year, may we let this song touch our hearts anew, for its message is eternal. All the world over, in humble desert tents or exquisite homes, loved ones yearn for the closeness of other loved ones. Remembering these lyrics can help us to remember that life must be enjoyed with others while we can.
I still recall the now haunting words of my father, “Hello son, can you sit a spell?” But I did not.
Sadly, the days to do so have passed. I imagine another young father named Joseph, who at the end of a hard day’s work, or perhaps during such a day, might have said to his son Jesus, “Can you sit a while?” He taught his son that the sharing of our time was precious, and while work must be done, our souls need quiet, peaceful, meaningful moments with others we love. Moments that, as a poet wrote, grapple friends unto our souls as hoops of steel.
Surely Jesus learned his lessons well, for the greatest gifts he gave were never made of gold or silk. His gifts were his time, his love and his friendship, never wishing he were elsewhere, but always focused on the one at hand. Again and again he took his beloved disciples and departed away from the crowds to enjoy a few needed moments of peace and quiet. He humbly sought out his Father when his own soul was troubled, kneeling quietly as he lovingly, and unhurriedly, shared his thoughts, concerns and hopes for his friends. When he visited the Americas he pulled those Nephite children close to him as he held them, blessed them, and prayed for them. One at a time! They never forgot.
This Christmas may be as others with delicious meals, gifts given, carols sung, and scriptures read about shepherds and wise men following a wondrous star, as well as the miraculous birth of a baby that forever changed the world.
However, might we find a little time to give a gift to Him whose birthday it truly is? Imagine the Savior asking you, “Can you sit a spell?” Would you? Give those you love, or want to love, including our Father in Heaven and His beloved Son, the simple gift of sitting or being with them in unhurried moments, without wishing you were elsewhere. Remember the Savior’s words; “Inasmuch as ye have done it into the least of these, ye have done it unto Me.”
Merry Christmas.
Craig Lindquist, Kapa‘a
