December
4th - 24 Days of Christmas
Suggested
Goal: Send a Christmas card to a missionary
Reading: Matthew
14: 15-19
Thought/Story
Christmas Orange – Rewritten from an anonymous source by Laura
Martin-Buhler
Sometime it is easy to forget the true meaning of Christmas. The
busy traditions of the season and the appealing advertisements for
material goods can leave the pure and simple truths far, far behind.
Jake was nine years old with tousled brown hair with blue eyes as
bright as a heavenly angel. For as long as Jake could remember he
had lived within the walls of a poor orphanage. He was just one of
ten children supported by what meager contributions the orphan home
could obtain in a continuous struggle seeking donations from
townsfolk.
There was very little to eat, but at Christmas time there always
seemed to be a little more than usual to eat, the orphanage seem a
little warmer, and it was time for a little holiday enjoyment. But
more than this, there was the Christmas orange!
Christmas was the only time of year that such a rare treat was
provided and it was treasured by each child like no other food
admiring it, feeling it, prizing it and slowly enjoying each juicy
section. Truly, it was the light of each orphan's Christmas and
their best gift of the season. How joyful would be the moment when
Jake received his orange!
Unknown to him, Jake had somehow managed to tack a small amount of
mud on his shoes through the front door of the orphanage, muddying
the new carpet. He hadn't even noticed,. Now it was too late and
there was nothing he could do to avoid punishment. The punishment
was swift and unrelenting. Jake would not be allowed his Christmas
orange! It was the only gift he would receive from the harsh world
he lived in, yet after a year of waiting for his Christmas orange, is
was to be denied him.
Tearfully, Jake pleased that he be forgiven and promised never to
track mud into the orphanage again, but to no avail. He felt
hopeless and totally rejected. Jake cried into his pillow all that
night and spent Christmas Day feeling empty and alone. He felt that
the other children didn't want to be with a boy who had been punished
with such a cruel punishment. Perhaps they feared he would ruin
their only day of happiness. Maybe, he reasoned, the gulf between
him and his friends existed because they feared he would ask for a
little of their oranges. Jake spent the day upstairs, alone, in the
unheated dormitory. Huddled under his only blanket, he read about a
family marooned on an island. Jake wouldn't mind spending the rest
of his life on an isolated island, if he could only have a real
family that cared about him.
Bedtime came, and worst of all, Jake couldn't sleep. How could he
say his prayers? How could there be a God in Heaven that would allow
a little soul such as his, to suffer so much all by himself?
Silently, he sobbed for the future of mankind that God might end the
suffering in the world, both for himself and all others like him.
As he climbed back into bed from the cold, hard floor, a soft hand
touched Jake's shoulder, startling him momentarily and an object was
silently placed in his hands. The giver disappeared into the
darkness, leaving Jake with what, he did not immediately know!
Looking closely at in the dim light, he was that it looked like and
orange! Not a regular orange, smooth and shiny, but a special
orange, very special. Inside a patched together peal were the
segments of nine other oranges, making one whole orange for Jake!
The nine other children in the orphanage had each donated one segment
of their own precious oranges to make a whole orange as a gift for
Jake.
Sharing what we truly value is the true spirit of Christmas. Our
Heavenly Father gave us His beloved Son. May we, like the children
in the orphanage, find ways to share His love with others less
blessed.
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