Christmas is often a stressful time of the year.  There are so many things we want to do, or feel we have to do, that we run out of time and energy.  We may become irritable, stressed, and depressed.  When we do, some may wish we could just do away with Christmas.

     But let's keep Christmas.  Only let's keep Christmas as it was originally kept: centered on God's activity.  We could learn a great deal about this from Mary, who "kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart".

     SHE STORED UP MEMORIES.  She "kept all these things".  What things?  The things that had led up to that first Christmas.  So much had happened to her in the past year: the startling announcement by the angel, the remarkable kindness of Joseph, the exciting words of Elizabeth and Zacharias, the exhausting journey to Bethlehem, the crowded inn, the dirty stable, the adoring shepherds...the list went on and on.  And Mary stored up every detail in her heart.

     We too have things to remember.  The year has been full of remarkable things for each of us.  But sometimes they get lost in our memories, covered up by the ordinary events of ordinary days.  As we come to another Christmas season, it will do us good to look back over the year and note the things that have happened in our lives. 

     SHE SEARCHED FOR MEANING.  She "pondered them in her heart".  It was not enough for Mary to know what had happened.  She needed to know what it meant.  So she "pondered" the memories she had stored away.  She turned them over and over in her heart, trying to understand what God was doing in her life.  She was a true servant of God who believed that He was at work in her life for good.  And she wanted to know more about what He was doing.

     We too need to make sense out of life.  What has been happening?  Where does God fit into it?  What is the purpose of it all?  As we ponder the things that have happened to us, perhaps we will learn some important truths.  Truths about the love of God that caused Him to send His Son, and the power of God that worked a miracle to get Him here, and the purpose of God that worked things together for good in the lives of those involved.

     Mary kept that first Christmas in her heart by storing up the memories and searching for the meaning of what had happened.

     Perhaps we should follow her example.