There aren’t as many lights adorning homes and business places in the communities of Central Utah this year. But that doesn’t mean the internal light of Christmas shouldn’t burn as brightly as ever in all of us.
True, there are multiple problems at home and abroad this year. There’s peace to be negotiated in the Mideast and new troubles in Vietnam. Energy shortages plague many people in the world, and even in America, this land of abundance.
Some inconveniences have spilled into the valleys of this area, but compared to some sectors we have much for which to be thankful.
In the yuletide, it’s axiomatic as ever that the true enjoyment of Christmas, for adults, anyway, comes not from what we receive, but from what we give. In fact the Savior, whose birth we commemorate this season, says “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
There is need among people in every community, of course. No matter how great the general level of prosperity, there are always the less fortunate who could use a little help – widows, and orphans, the unemployed, the aged, the incapacitated, others struggling with poverty or adversity.
Some communities have a Christmas agency set up to try to meet the needs of the poor and their children at yuletide. Some such agencies have functioned for many years with good success and a tried and true record of real community worth. Churches have given valiant service over the years in assisting the needy, without fanfare.
On a community basis, the Sub-for-Santa program has worked well in Provo ever since the 1940s, prime coordinators being Provo Firemen, the Herald, and the Utah County Welfare Department. This year the Provo situation seems pretty well in hand, ***ed list of needy families virtually subscribed, at this point.
But many families are still in need of Christmas help in Utah County outside Provo, and the Family Services Division of the Welfare Department is appealing for more Subs-for-Santa. We encourage generous individuals and groups to answer the call.
It would be a bleak day if Christmas arrives and we have not done something kind for others. This is a season when the Good Samaritan should be emulated to some extent by all of us.
So, if circumstances permit, be a Sub-for-Santa and assist a family in need. Or mail a check to a Christmas agency, to a church group you know to be in need of funds to help its poor; or even to a family about which you have personal knowledge.
Need seems ever-present, and so is the deep need in all of us to do a good deed. When we give, we help others, but the reward to ourselves often is greater than the gift.