Once upon a time, in a cozy living room overflowing with a great variety of elegant toys, three little girls named Ada, Millie, and Hilda were having a Christmas celebration. The room was filled with exclamations of admiration at the wonderful gifts Santa had brought.
“Why, Millie,” said Ada, a twinkle in her eyes, “Santa must have been so good to you! I’ve never seen so many presents!”
Hilda, her eyes wide with wonder, added, “I never had half as many gifts in my whole life!”
However, amidst the joy, Millie remained silent. Something was bothering her. She finally confessed that she was mad at Santa. She had asked him for a tiny watch with a diamond-encrusted bird on the back, but Santa hadn’t brought it.
“Perhaps Santa couldn’t afford it, Millie,” Ada tried to reason. “Times have been hard at the North Pole this year. That’s why my gifts were fewer.”
But Millie disagreed, for she believed Santa could afford anything. That’s when Hilda began to speak of the Christmas Spirit, a beautiful sentiment born with the Christ Child. It wasn’t something you could see or touch, but a loving spirit that filled people’s hearts during Christmas, inspiring them to give and share.
“But not everyone has it, Hilda,” said Millie, a puzzled look on her face. “Why is that?”
“Well,” replied Hilda, “When people let their hearts fill with pride, envy, or bad feelings, there’s no room left for the Christmas Spirit.”
Ada then realized that with the Christmas Spirit in her heart, she could feel happy and grateful for her gifts, no matter how few they were. And Millie, understanding this, started to see her numerous presents in a new light.
“Could it be,” she wondered aloud, “that the Christmas Spirit is finally entering my heart?”
She went to her presents and started appreciating their beauty. In that moment, she decided to share her gifts with the children in town who had much less then her, and with that decision, it was clear that the true Spirit of Christmas had touched her heart.
