Dear reader, I want to share with you this beautiful message about the spirit of Christmas. It reflects some of the deepest feelings of my heart.
I know recently I've been more open about discussing my thoughts on spirituality, but I feel a certain degree of apprehension in so doing. Not because I doubt my beliefs or worry how they may be received, but because I doubt myself and cringe at the discrepancy of believing such beautiful principles while falling short of them or failing to understand, at times, their application in my life.
Still, with such imperfect faith, this is what I believe. With all my heart I believe in God, a heavenly father who loves us and yearns for our return. I don't always understand Him, I probably don't even come close to understanding Him, but I believe I know something of His nature through this magnificent world and His workmanship upon it, through my efforts to follow Him, through the people I love and the experience of having children of my own.
I believe His Son, Jesus Christ, is the Savior of this world and have found peace in trusting He alone understands the sorrows I've experienced, and that this understanding came about because He took upon Himself every anguish and disappointment, every bitter moment and injustice, descending below all mortal suffering in order to know how to comfort and heal us.
This is what I believe.
And the part I see with greatest clarity is to look out upon this world with love, to follow the Savior's example by striving to see the great worth of each soul, to be gentle and kind, to reach and help others as He would do. This is the thing which gives me the greatest peace and it is what I think about when I consider what Christmas means to me.