Have you ever looked at a candy cane and seen more than just a sweet treat? Join me, Karen Hall, in our special Christmas minisode as we unwrap the hidden depths of holiday symbols that enrich the festive season with sacred meaning. As a mother, I've found these emblems to be a powerful way to teach my children about the love and light of the Savior, and I'm excited to share these stories with you. We're journeying beyond the jingles and the tinsel to rediscover the poignant reminders of Christ's guiding light in our holiday customs, from the vibrant evergreen to the guiding star of Bethlehem.
Gather your loved ones and tune in for a heartfelt exploration of how the traditions we hold dear can point us back to the essence of Christmas. We'll examine the spiritual significance behind the gifts of the wise men, the symbolism behind the poinsettia, and even how Santa Claus's generosity mirrors how Saint Nicholas gave to others with the Savior's love. Let's inspire each other to honor the birth of Jesus through acts of kindness and celebrate this time of year not just with presents, but with presence—the presence of hope, love, and His never-ending light that shines in the darkness.
Speaker 1:
Hey there, welcome back. I'm Karen Hall, your host of the Hero Within podcast. I'm passionate about sharing inspiring true stories of unsung heroes who've overcome some of life's most challenging adversities. Come along with me and learn how you too can find hope and healing to return to love. Hey friends, I hope you're having a merry Christmas, and I wanted to let you know about some of the things that helped me to remember the Savior and things that I have taught my children about remembering the Savior.
Speaker 1:
I remember when they were little and I would often have a family night lesson as we were trying to help them think about why we were celebrating Christmas and there were so many things around us that reminded us of Jesus and there were also so many distractions that took away from thinking about Jesus, and so I remember teaching them about some of the symbols of Christmas. For example, I taught them how the candy cane is symbolic of the shepherd's crook, which was used to gather in the lost sheep back into the fold, just like Jesus is our good shepherd guiding us back to the fold. And, of course, also about the shepherds that saw the star when Jesus was born. Also the color green and the evergreen tree, whose leaves stay green all year long is symbolic of eternal life, and our Christmas tree points towards heaven, so that's one of the reasons why we celebrate with that kind of a tree instead of the bare branches. You know, at winter time we often hear bells at Christmas time, and bells ring to guide lost sheep back to the fold, just as Jesus seeks after us and calls to us to return to him. We also see angels a lot at Christmas time, and angels remind us of the angels that proclaimed the Savior's birth.
Speaker 1:
We have presents and a lot of thought goes into gift giving at Christmas, but one of the things that's interesting about presents is that it reminds us of the gifts that the wise men brought to Jesus the frankincense, gold and myrrh, which were very precious gifts, and also gifts remind us of the greatest gift that Heavenly Father gave to us in the gift of his son and eternal life. And I also like to help my family think about what gifts could we give to Jesus, because it's his birthday that we're celebrating, and some people even have a birthday party for Jesus and have a cake. I thought about how a lot of times we give oranges at Christmas, and that is symbolic of gold and we use the color gold a lot at Christmas. Their symbol is holly, which has sharp edges, and it reminds us of the crown of thorns that Jesus wore and how he suffered for us, and the red holly berries remind us of his blood that was shed for us, and we see the color red all the time at Christmas, which also reminds us of the blood of our Savior. We also have wreaths. You see wreaths made out of pine boughs and all kinds of different wreaths, and a wreath is a symbol of the never ending love that the Lord has for us.
Speaker 1:
We also use candles and Christmas lights galore. You see Christmas lights on the tree and Christmas lights on houses and it's just. I love the festive aspect of all the lights and the candles and that reminds us about how Jesus is the light of the world and that he shows us the way in the darkness. And the days are so long and we have so much darkness. It's just beautiful to think about that light that helps us to have clarity and To see the way to return to Jesus.
Speaker 1:
The star is something. A lot of people put a star at the top of their tree and and we have a lot of stars at Christmas, and that's symbolic of the star of Bethlehem that's shown so bright on the night that Jesus was born. The dev is a symbol of peace on earth and it's a symbol of the Holy Spirit which brings peace to our heart. Snow flakes are symbolic of how God created each one of us to be unique and special as a child of God. The poinsettia is symbolic of the star of Bethlehem and the red represents Jesus's sacrifice for us all. And Even Santa Claus is a reminder of Saint Nicholas, who went from home to home, giving gifts and Celebrating the Savior by showing love and giving to others, as Jesus did.
Speaker 1:
And I remember when my kids were little I would print off a picture. Sometimes I would have them color the pictures, like the candy cane or the poinsettia or this star or different things, and then I would hold up the pictures and teach them what this symbols meant. And Then I would have them teach the symbols also. So I'd hold up the candy cane and I'd say what does this mean? And they would Tell the family. And so it was. It was to help them to internalize that.
Speaker 1:
But the focus of Christmas really is to think about Jesus and I loved how all of these things helped us to remember him, to remember the reason for the season and to remember why we are even Even celebrating Christmas at all.
Speaker 1:
And I'm so grateful for our Savior, I'm so grateful for the good news that he brought, that we can turn to him, that we can receive his help, that we can have his comfort and that he will sucker us in our extremities and in our pain and that he will Nurture us and help us, because many times Life can feel very dark and at the holidays it's a time when we do a lot of reflecting and we miss our loved ones.
Speaker 1:
We long for things to be so good. But if we can just remember that our promise is in the Savior and that he is the promise of all good things to come, and that we can depend on him and that we can think about him and, as we see these symbols, that we can have a prayer in our heart and Turn to the Lord in those moments and draw near to him, because he is waiting to draw near to us. Thank you for your love and your light that you shine in my life and for blessing me. I wish you a very merry Christmas. I hope that this can help you to teach your children and your grandchildren, and that we can all remember our Savior Merry Christmas.