In my early days of ministering, as well as pastoring a church, I sometimes worked at a secular job.  One Christmas Eve, the storekeeper I worked for decided to keep his store open (when all the other stores were closed) and that meant I had to work too.  I admit I didn’t have the Christmas spirit!  We were open for about three hours and in all this time one lady, who somehow had put off her Christmas shopping, came in with her family allowance cheque and purchased a sizeable order.  If we hadn’t been open she would have had next to nothing for Christmas.

 

My sister told me about one Christmas in particular that she remembered.  She said they put real candles on the tree that you would light and sit and watch them burn for about 10 minutes.  No doubt they would crank up the old phonograph and play some carols or, somebody would come and play some carols on the old reed organ.

 

My mother used to tell about Christmas on Westchester Mountain (now the Cobequid Pass).  There were eight in her family.  Her father would be working in the woods and he would come home the day before Christmas so he could go shopping in Amherst.  Her mother would remain at home to do the cooking and get ready for Christmas.  A blizzard came, and her father had to spend Christmas Eve in Amherst.  The next day around noon he arrived home.  Before going to bed they would all hang up their stockings.  In the morning when they got up there was only a few raisins in their stockings.

 

A friend of mine shared a story about how her mother always baked a large fruit cake for the minister.  The day before Christmas she and her mother would take it to him.  The owner of the General Store extended credit to his customers many times and especially at Christmas.  A number of people would have had a slim Christmas if it had not been for his generosity.

 

Oral Roberts used to have a Christmas special on TV.  The title of his sermon was “Christmas is More Than an Orange”.  He would tell how his family were very poor and they only purchased oranges at Christmas and how delicious they were.  My, how times have changed!

 

Leslie Jobb