Often when we meet one another, we ask the simple question, "How are you feeling today?" Most of the time, this is not an honest question because we are not really looking for a real answer. Of course, we all understand this; we know that an honest answer isn't expected and we simply say, "Fine." We implicitly know that the person who asked the question would probably neither have the time nor the interest in receiving a full and honest answer, so we tell them what they want to hear - "Fine". Somewhat humorous, here's how one person answered the question, "How are you feeling today?"

I'm fine, thank you.

There is nothing the matter with me. I'm as healthy as I can be. I have arthritis in both my knees, and when I talk, I talk with a wheeze.

My pulse is weak, and my blood is thin, but I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in.

Arch supports I have for my feet or I wouldn't be able to be on the street.

Sleep is denied me night after night, but every morning I find I'm all right.

My memory is failing, my head's in a spin, but I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in.

The moral is this, as my tale I unfold, that for you and me who are growing old,

It's better to say "I'm fine" with a grin than to let folks know the shape we are in.

How do I know that my youth is all spent? Well, my "get up and go" just got up and went,

But I really don't mind when I think with a grin of all the grand places my "get up" has been.

Old age is golden, I've heard it said; but sometimes I wonder as I get into bed,

With my ears in the drawer my teeth in a cup, my eyes on the table until I wake up.

Ere sleep overtakes me, I say to myself, "Is there anything else I could lay on the shelf?"

When I was young my slippers were red, I could kick my heels over my head.

When I was older my slippers were blue, but I still could dance the whole night through.

Now I am old, my slippers are black, I walk to the store and puff my way back.

I get up each morning and dust off my wits and pick up the paper and read the obits.

If my name is still missing, I know I'm not dead, so I fix me some breakfast and go back to bed.

Anyone here feel like that, at least some days?

But today is a special day, Christmas, so I want to press the question, "What do you feel at Christmas?'

Now, if we're honest, we would admit that there are a number of emotions which will find their way into our lives on this special day.

We may start with the Bible list called "Fruit of the Spirit," particularly the first three, love, joy and peace; then we could well add a couple more which are also prominently mentioned in the Bible: faith and hope.

When thinking about love, we would probably refer to the love of family. How we all appreciate being part of a loving family, where we are accepted and cared for "in sickness and in health," loved by people who know us well enough to rattle off a long list of faults any time of day, and still are willing to hang around with us. However, there is the other side of love, which is the deep hurt caused by relationship trouble and dysfunction. Recently I heard someone make the statement, "We need to put the "fun" back in "dysfunction". Really? I don't think that is possible - there never was any fun in dysfunction, and there never will be. In fact, the pain goes on, and often hangs like a storm cloud even over such a wonderful day as we all think Christmas should be.

Then there's the Christmas emotion of joy, the happiness of both giving and receiving. Children love Christmas because of the presents they love to receive. Perhaps some never grow out of that, but wise parents start early to train their children to understand that, as Jesus said, "it is more blessed to give than to receive."

Connected with joy is what we call gratitude - that good feeling of appreciation when we realize just how blessed we are. Even if we don't get all the attractive items we've seen advertised, we do know that, compared with most of the rest of the world, we are very well off indeed. Christmas is a season of gratitude.

Take a look at these slides sent to me by Peggy Pan:

There is another side of joy, sadness, and at this time of year, much of our sadness is due to our turning Christmas into a family celebration instead of a Jesus celebration. There's sadness because someone is missing - they were at the table last year, but now they're gone. Sometimes it's even borrowed sadness, we fear that the loved one with us this year may not be still around next time we sing "Joy to the World."

Very obviously connected with Christmas is the emotion of peace. That was a prominent part of the angel's message - "Peace on earth". However, to a great many people, this seems like an empty promise, or at least one yet to be fulfilled. Yes, people who truly have the Spirit of the Lord in their hearts are relatively free from anxiety, turmoil, confusion and contention, but there are a lot of people who have little peace.

This week, reading a book by Rick Joyner, I came across his comment about the statement in Isaiah 6, "The whole earth is filled with His glory." At one point, Joyner had actually assumed these "cherubim" must have been deceived because, in reality, "the whole earth seemed to be filled with wars, disease, child abuse, treachery and evil on every side." ("The Call" p. 39) The same may be said about peace, there seems to be everything but peace on earth good will toward men.

One of the constant elements of the Christian life, one which Paul says will last throughout eternity is faith. We don't usually view this as an emotion, for we see faith as a matter of the mind. For us, faith is positive thinking, it's envisioning - exercising our imaginations and then convincing ourselves that what we imagine in our minds will come to pass. However, it's my opinion that this is a trivialization of faith. More truthfully, faith is a deep seated sense of security, an inner feeling that no matter what happens around us, we will ultimately be safe. It's a feeling of confidence that God will not let us down.

However, let's be honest, many of us are feeling rather insecure, either because we have been abandoned by someone who we thought had loved us unconditionally, or because of the threats of the evil ones around about us. Have you noticed that, especially since 9-11, many of our national and local leaders feel that their most important task is to protect their citizens? Our president has said it repeatedly, and so did the mayor of Gretna, Louisiana who, a few days after the Katrina hurricane, ordered the police to close off the Mississippi River bridge from New Orleans because he feared that among the thousands who were trying to escape the devastation of their city there would be some criminal types who would bring harm to his city. (Perhaps the reason this received national news attention was because most of the people trying to walk across that bridge were black, while Gretna was largely white.)

The truth is, no amount of humanly designed or promised security can possibly provide the emotional security we all seek.

The last of our Christmas emotions is also one mentioned in Paul's trilogy of faith, hope, love. Hope is the assurance that the future will be good - in fact, it will be better. We all know it to be true, when hope fails, life ebbs - those who know the true depths of depression understand this. While Christmas certainly should revive hope in our hearts, for many people, it only seems to yield disappointment and sometimes even despair. Christmas comes at the end of the year, and we have to accept the reality that many of the high hopes we had at the beginning have been dashed. So, we reason, there's no use hoping again.

At this time of year, Christmas, we may experience any or all of these emotions. We may feel love, joy, peace, faith and hope, or on the other hand, we may feel their opposites: hurtful memories and loneliness, sadness, anxiety and contention, insecurity or disappointment.

Good morning how do you feel?

If these are some of the emotions we may experience, what about the first people to experience Christmas? What about Joseph, Mary, shepherds and kings? What did they feel?

Well, as for the father figure, Joseph, we're not told much about him. Joseph? He just did what he was supposed to do; there's little indication of emotion, except when meeting the temple worker, Simeon. Luke tells us that after listening to Simeon's comments, "The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him." (Luke 2:33) So Joseph marveled.

Certainly Mary must have experienced all of the emotions felt by any first-time mother. However, all we're told is that she was pensive, thoughtful. "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." (Luke 2:19)

As for the Magi, whom we have renamed the "Three Kings of Orient," we know they were driven by curiosity, and when that curiosity was rewarded by their being guided by a star in finding the baby Jesus, who was to become the Messiah, "They rejoiced with exceeding great joy." (Matthew 2:10)

And then there were the shepherds, and with them we can see a kind of evolution of emotions. First there was fear, which gave way to curiosity and ultimately it turned into excitement, and as a result, they eagerly told everyone: "When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them." (Luke 2:17, 18)

But not only did the shepherds share the good news with everyone they met, they also exhibited their truest feelings by praising God: "The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." (Luke 2:20)

What great examples these people provide for us to follow.

At the end of the day, that is at the end of this Christmas day, the kind of feelings that will dominate will largely depend on whether or not we can follow the examples of the first Christmas celebrants. Will we rehearse the story and marvel like Joseph? Will we quietly contemplate the miraculous events of that day and ponder them in our hearts like Mary? Will we go the extra mile with the Magi and seek to know Jesus the Messiah, and then rejoice at the announcement of the coming of the King of Kings? And will we be excited with the shepherds and do our part in sharing the story, and joining them in praising God for His sending His only Son into the world to be our Savior?