A stocking for Jesus

I love old movies.  They are always the ones that you don't have to worry about the content.  You know that if your children walk in on you, there will be nothing in the movie to make you uncomfortable.  I can sit down and enjoy the movie for itself.  Sometimes, the acting can be a little cheesy, or the special effects aren't as good as the ones today, but I love the simplicity and the story lines of the old Hollywood cinema films. 
I have just re-discovered a wonderful Christmas movie.  I actually forgot how much I liked it before I watched it again.  This time, I saw something in it that I had somehow missed the last few times I watched it.

The Bishop's Wife, was produced in 1947, and it is the story of an angel who comes to earth to save a woman and her husband, who is a priest, from spiritual doubt, and a lack of love for life itself.  It is about a man who has lost the joy in the everyday adventure that is our life here upon the earth.  He became so involved with the difficulties in his job of being a preacher, that he forgot how important his own family was. 
But this movie is even more than that.  It features a sermon at the end that is just as applicable today as it was at the time the movie was made.  We live in a commercialized world and sometimes, it seems, as if we are so in need of a simple, non-commercial message of Christmas. So here is the message for today.  I hope that you find it as meaningful as I have. 

Here is the closing sermon from the movie, The Bishops Wife:

"Tonight I want to tell you the story of an empty stocking.
Once upon a midnight clear, there was a child's cry, a blazing star hung over a stable, and wise men came with birthday gifts. We haven't forgotten that night down the centuries. We celebrate it with stars on Christmas trees, with the sound of bells, and with gifts.
But especially with gifts. You give me a book, I give you a tie. Aunt Martha has always wanted an orange squeezer and Uncle Henry can do with a new pipe. For we forget nobody, adult or child. All the stockings are filled, all that is, except one. And we have even forgotten to hang it up. The stocking for the child born in a manger. Its his birthday we're celebrating. Don't let us ever forget that.
Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most. And then, let each put in his share, loving kindness, warm hearts, and a stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shinning gifts that make peace on earth".

How wonderful is that short but sweet sermon given by this good Bishop.  The sentiments are now over Sixty years old, but still apply today.  May we each take the time this Christmas to find something to give from ourselves and to place in the Savior's Stocking.  May we each give to Him that part of ourselves which matters most of all.  May you remember the very reason that we celebrate this beautiful day and may you find the time to let Him know how much He means to you.   
Merry Christmas to all.