AAAAHHHHH..... Christmas

The season of Christmas is finally upon us !

And while the Christmas season is full of meaning to so many people, it holds a very special place in the heart of firefighters. Anyone who has seen a Christmas parade know that if the "REAL" Santa Claus puts in an appearance, he invariably does so from the vantage point of a Fire Truck.

Now there are some caveats here- for instance; this is usually a platform, or ladder truck, but that is simply for the sake of visibility. Any firefighter worth his salt knows that Santa was a "Pump" man. I'll offer this as proof : He's always wearing that suit ( appears insulated to me), those turnout boots and gloves, ( I would have picked a different color than white, but who am I to judge Santa? I'm sure the man has his reasons.) He makes entry through a  dark place where there's usually fire, and the fact that he's always "first due".

What do I mean, First Due?
I'm glad you asked. Even if you subtract the number of households world-wide that don't believe, or that have no knowledge of the "Santa" story, that would still ( I'm guess-ta-mating here) leave a cool 4-6 BILLION people to visit between midnight on Christmas Eve, and Dawn of Christmas Day. There's just NO WAY to get that kind of performance out of an aerial truck. Besides, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll save you some reading here. I found this picture online:

Santa, on  what is obviously a "Pump"

That's obviously a pump. And if you find/read it online, it has to be true, Right ?! I rest my case.
 Anyways, the whole point of this little diatribe is not to insult "truckies", It's to point out that there is a close relationship between the celebration of our biggest holiday, and the Fire Service in general. Firefighters, like everyone else; find themselves caught up in the joy of the giving spirit, and wrestling with the child-like glee of fostering "good will" towards our fellow man.

I especially delight in this quote from " A Christmas Carol". I found it (Yup, online again), and share it with you now. Isn't that what Christmas, and in fact the whole story of Christ is about? Opening your heart Freely to those below you? And I'm not just referring to Truckies here. ( Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
But in a Country so violently polarized, where people are convinced that THEIR viewpoint is truth, and everyone else is wrong- when we are so divided, isn't this just the Holiday spirit we need?

I invite you this season- inject some of the spirit in which Christ came into your holiday. Remember- He never called us to contend on his behalf, but rather to embody his earthly example. In the middle of your " hustle and bustle" take time to remember what it's about. These folks in this next clip did precisely that. When I watched it, I realized immediately that the God I know and love was there in that place, with those people. As the mechanics of the "Holiday Machine" ground to a halt, people all over this mall seemed touched by the presence of GOD.

Is there something I can do ? Someway to stop my busy schedule, and show the love of Christ to those I generally find myself at odds with, or racing against? I certainly hope so. These people did, and I'd like to leave you with their example:

Merry Christmas!! And God Bless Us... Everyone!