Pacifica Stories

Christmas is a season with activity, shopping lists, packed calendars, decorations pulled from dusty boxes, parties, performances, and gatherings layered one upon another. It is beautiful, joyful, and exhausting all at once. In the midst of the hustle and bustle, it is easy to forget why all this activity exists to begin with. At the heart of Christmas is not an event, a schedule, or even a tradition. It is a gift. The gift of Christ. 

Christmas is not only a time for giving, but also a time for receiving. We give with care, hoping our gifts bring real joy. But receiving requires something of us as well. It requires humility to receive. We must give up control and be open to receive. 

We must open the gift, and then we must actually use it. An unopened gift fulfills none of its purpose. And a gift opened but set aside quickly becomes forgotten.

At Christmas, we receive the greatest gift ever given: God with us. Grace and truth entered the world in the person of Jesus Christ. The angel’s words to Mary echo through history: “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus” (Luke 1:31). In a quiet stable, wrapped in simple cloths and laid in a manger, the Savior of the world arrived, humble, vulnerable, and real. And the heavens themselves announced it: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace” (Luke 2:14).

We cannot leave this gift under the tree. We must receive it. We are invited to bend down, pick it up, open it, and receive it fully, with gratitude and with intention. Christ is not meant to be admired from a distance once a year, but welcomed daily into the center of our lives. When we truly receive Him, He brings what no wrapped present ever could: deep joy, enduring peace, wisdom for the journey, courage for hardship, forgiveness for failure, and hope that does not fade.

So this Christmas, as you give generously to others, remember also to receive deeply yourself. Step back. Open the gift again. Let your heart grow still enough to remember the reason for Christmas and to welcome Christ anew.

Merry Christmas
Jim Knight, Head of School