In the cartoon The Family Circus, the little boy in the family was sending a Christmas card to his grandmother. He said, "I know Grandmother likes only religious cards, so I'm sending her this one with St. Nick on it." Many of us laugh at that, but in a practical sense, we are the same as that little boy. For we take great pains...

Kierkegaard told a parable about a prince who fell in love with a peasant maid. He had noticed her passing by on the street and was instantly infatuated. He knew that if he went to her as the prince and told of his love, she would certainly accept. That would be the loyal thing to do. But he wanted her to have a genuine...

In the Peanuts comic strip, one of the little girls says that Christmas is a time for kindness and joy, and a time when we forgive one another. Charlie Brown responds by saying, "Why just at Christmas? Why can't we be kind and forgiving all through the year?" She looks at Charlie Brown and says, "What are you...

In C. S. Lewis' book, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, he takes us to the land of Narnia. When Narnia is living under the authority of the witch, it is "always winter, but never Christmas." Can you imagine how discouraging that would be to a child? Still, there are people today who are living in a winter, and Christmas...