Hansen Mark Victor - Chicken soup for the soul: the book of Christmas virtues: inspirational stories to warm the heart

Chicken Soup for the Soul
The Book of
Christmas Virtues

Inspirational Stories
to Warm the Heart

Jack Canfield
Mark Victor Hansen
with
Carol McAdoo Rehme

Backlist, LLC, a unit of

Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC

Cos Cob, CT

www.chickensoup.com

D edicated to those
who seek
the comfort of home,
the company of friends
and the essence of Christmas.
May you discover it all
within these pages.

Contents

Value from Virtues: How to Use This Book

Margaret Lang

Nancy B. Gibbs

Woody Woodburn

Mary Kerr Danielson

Margaret Middleton

Mary Kerr Danielson

Gone Logo

Jim West

Toby Abraham-Rhine

Ann K. Brandt

Carol McAdoo Rehme

Margaret Kirk

Jane Zaffino

Common Sense

Emily Sue Harvey

Binkie Dussault

James Daigh

Isabel Bearman Bucher

Margaret Lang

Robin Clephane Steward

Kathryn Beisner

Its So Lover-ly

Marion Smith

Edmund W. Ostrander

Henry Boye

Sheila Myers

Margaret Lang

Carol McAdoo Rehme

Sealed with a Kiss

Pamela Bumpus

Annette Seaver

Ellen Fenter

Carol McAdoo Rehme

Sharon Whitley Larsen

Its in the Mail

Robert H. Bickmeyer

Vickie Ryan Koehler

Charlotte A. Lanham

Angela Hall

Stephanie Welcher Thompson

Carol Keim as told to Tamara Chilla

Going Global

Mary Kerr Danielson

Bonnie Compton Hanson

Steve Burt

Armen Humber

Woody Woodburn

Charlotte A. Lanham

Carol McAdoo Rehme

Suitable for Flaming

Introduction
Reflections

Holiday greetings, family gatherings, crackling fires, candlelight services, gingerbread men, jingle bells, crunching snow, garlands...

What comes to your mind when you think about Christmas?

Do you feel excitement? Delight? Wonder? Are you eager to plan, to give, to do? Do you anticipate and participate?

Or do you hallucinate and disintegrate?

Too often, we approach Christmas mired in a puddle of tree lights, fighting to untangle, struggling to straighten things outthe lights, ourselves. We get caught in the clamor of consumerism. We drown in debt.

Worst of all, we forget.

We forget to focus on the pure, unadulterated joy of the season. The kind of wholesome pleasure that seeps into our minds, sneaks onto our lips and slips throughout our souls. That indefinable, unexplainable, indescribable... cleansing... that washes over us until we are cleaner and clearer, bigger and brighter. Indeed, until we are better than ourselves.

And where do we find this elusive something?

Within each of us lies the possibility of betterness and the ability to achieve a higher level of moral excellence by adopting virtuous qualities. And what better time than Christmas to discover, develop and nurture a virtue?

Christmas, a season of newness, offers us the opportunity for personal renewal. The chance to change ourselves, alter our course, remake our lives. Oh, not necessarily on a grand scale. Small incrementsbaby stepswill do.

And that is what we offer within the pages of ChickenSoup for the Soul: The Book of Christmas Virtuesinspiration to assist your quest for virtue. A collection of stories to encourage retrospection, introspection and quiet reflection.

Our own inspiration comes from the Advent season itself. Perhaps your family, too, reads Scripture and lights candles each Sunday during the month of December, each week focusing on a specific theme. In that same spirit, we selected seven virtues that are symbolic of Christmas: Kindness, Joy, Love, Gratitude, Faith, Simplicity and Wonder. All are characteristics that kindle a light within.

We designed a thought-provoking essay to introduce each virtue and a creative end-of-chapter activity to reinforce it. Then we read through stacks and stacks of stories. Stories that Chicken Soup readersexactly like youwrote and shared. Stories that depicted the same virtues we chose to emphasize. Stories that encouraged us. Stories that stirred and fired us. Stories that raised us to a higher plane.

From them, we selected the accounts within these pages, anecdotes of all shapes and sizes, exactly like the people who wrote them. After all, as a wise man once noted, A human being is nothing but a story with skin around it.

The final product is this treasury of holiday stories, emphasizing the good, the uplifting and the righteous all without sermonizing. The virtues are evident; the lessons are heartfelt; the journey is one of joy. The Book ofChristmas Virtues sparkles with the charm of a tinseled tree and crackles with the warmth of a wood-burning stove... even as it rings with the familiar voice of home.

Someone once said, Telling a story is a gift of love. And so, our gift to you this holiday season is in the telling.

Carol McAdoo Rehme

Value from Virtues:
How to Use This Book

Use it as a family reader: Take turns reading aloud from it each night. There are enough stories for the entire month of December... and more.

Supplement Advent: Pick one of the virtues as your weekly theme, and end each week with the suggested activity.

Use it for holiday teas and luncheons: Share a story or two with the group as entertainment.

Place the book on your coffee table: It is sure to be a constant reminder, year after year, of the true meaning of Christmas.