Have you finished your Christmas shopping?

Have you started yet?

Will you start?

Yes, times are tough for many people. This year it seems more so for many more people.

Many individuals this year are understandably cutting back on gift purchases. And they don’t like the feeling that ensues.

Yet, Christmas is more about a different type of giving. Perhaps, not just those feeling strapped, but every one of us is being given an opportunity to better understand that there is yet a higher level of giving, a sharing — of a holy spirit — with each other.

I enjoy listening to the many songs and hymns that help make Christmas special.

Do you? Reflect for a moment, before you continue reading, on those Christmas carols that have been special to you.

Now, join me in reflective consideration by pausing after each line of the following verse as we thoughtfully consider what can be …

“I hear the bells

Saying Christmas is near

They ring out, to tell the world

That this is the season of cheer.”

“I hear a choir

Singing sweetly somewhere

And a glow fills my heart

I’m at peace with the world

As the sound, of their singing fills the air.”

“I hear a child

Telling Santa what to bring

And the smile upon his tiny face

Is worth more, to me than anything.”

“Oh, why can’t every day be like Christmas

Why can’t that feeling, go on, endlessly

For if every day could be, just like Christmas;

What a wonderful world this would be.”

The man who sang this Christmas song we called a “king” on earth.

Yet, he sang it as a hymn to the real King, prayerfully asking for humankind to understand what could be:

“For If Every Day Could Be Just Like Christmas … What a wonderful world this would be!”

Richard Olivastro is a professional member of the National Speakers Association, president of Olivastro Communications and founder of Citizens For Change. He can be reached at Rich@Olivastro.NET or 877-RichSpeaks.