All of us have seen those signs, "Keep Christ in Christmas." I hope you did that this year. There are many people who celebrate Christmas who have no idea at all that Christ is the hope of the world.

It's like one family I read about. They were gathered to celebrate the holiday without much thought to its significance. Little Charlotte, gulping her milk, heaved a white mustached sigh. Then she pointed her fork toward her grandfather like a microphone and asked, "Grandpa, why is today called Christmas?" The child's question came like a peal of thunder. "Out of the blue it fell crashing into the dining room just as though, indeed, the roof might be collapsing." Did the little girl have any idea what she was asking? After what seemed like an eternity her grandfather said, "Perhaps your mother could give you a better answer than I could."

It had been a trying day for Rita, her mother. It was the first time she was able to sit with her father in many years. She answered her daughter, "Today is called Christmas, Charlotte, because it is the birthday of Jesus Christ." She then gave a brief explanation. Grandpa looked in disbelief at his daughter. "A note of astonishment, of genuine, of radiant humility, something so unexpected that it even caught Rita off guard. Indeed she spoke almost as though she had just discovered the origins of Christmas herself, as if that very moment such knowledge had been revealed to her."

Laughter broke out again, Charlotte's face glowed like a little angel's. There was no more talk of Jesus that evening. "And yet " it was as if the Lord Himself, like a master goldsmith, had devised exactly the right setting in which the mere mention of His name might shine forth like a spectacular jewel, like a diamond against a black velvet cloth." Before we leave Christmas entirely, we need to be reminded of the reason for the season. The child that was carried into Egypt by his fleeing parents is the hope of the world.