Posted: Wednesday, December 22, 2010 8:01 pm

To The Editor:
Around this time of year, each year, I cause a measure of disappointment in my close family members. It is not because I am not a good provider or that I do not make some effort to remember them with an appropriate Christmas gift. It is due to the fact that they fail to see the joy in me that one would expect during the Christmas season. I struggle with this every year, and I have always known the reason. Each year we scramble to provide gifts in order to check people off our various lists who are important to us. We wish to acknowledge their importance to us with a gift. Certainly, in my case, most of these people have everything they need and most of what they want.
The best gift we could give ourselves and our families, is for each of us to come to know the love and grace of Jesus Christ our Savior for whom this season is named. In my line of work, I encounter people who are in troubled circumstances. Some of these circumstances are a result of their own conduct and some not. At the risk of offending or making them uncomfortable, I now inquire of them whether or not they are involved in a local church. Many times I learn that they are either not currently active in any church or have not been for some time. I can’t help but believe that a large measure of their troubles would have been eliminated, or at least alleviated, had the case been otherwise.
It is my prayer for this community that each of us would take inventory, particularly during the Christmas season, of people truly in need. You won’t have to think too hard before coming up with the names of families or individuals who have lost their homes, their spouses, their loved ones or have suffered other hardships making them unable to meet the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter.
It is not too late this year for us to extend charity during the Christmas season, or to provide money or assistance to a Christian organization so that those efforts can be multiplied in the community. I hope each of you would consider doing so in the name of Jesus Christ. It will make a difference.
John M. Miles
Union City

Published in The Messenger 12.22.10