Advent Days of Gratitude

 

Never Too Soon for....

It's A Wonderful Life! 

I know, I know--too early in December to bring up It's a Wonderful Life.  Yet I have to wonder if before Christmas rushes us to fast--we now have the chance to stop and remember how our lives have been shaped by others---and--how we shape others lives.  This is the most important part of the movie for me--see what you think!

In the above picture, that's Clarence the Angel (2nd Class) without wings--and his client, George Bailey.  Clarence grants George's wish--"I wish I had never been born!"    So George gets the chance to see the world without him and his influence. When he finds the gravestone of his brother, Harry, he declares:

Clarence: [explaining] Your brother, Harry Bailey, broke through the ice and was drowned at the age of nine.
George Bailey: That's a lie! Harry Bailey went to war! He got the Congressional Medal of Honor! He saved the lives of every man on that transport!
Clarence: Every man on that transport died. Harry wasn't there to save them, because you weren't there to save Harry.

From this point, George discovers the world without him in it--and how wonderful he himself helped to make it.  Gratitude fills George as he recovers his family and his life--which is such a wonderful gift.  

So here is the challenge!  Count the days of Advent with gratitude that you have the life you do, with the people who are a part of it, and that all of you have "gifted" each other in this world.  Then, perhaps the meaning of Christmas will dawn--that because of Jesus Christ, all of our lives are forever changed and charged with meaning, purpose, and gratitude.   
  

¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 
                                                                                    John 1:12-13