The Most Important Christmas Message
By Mike Ballah

Most of us believe (if we are honest enough to admit it) that happiness
    comes through getting.


Ebenezer Scrooge was unhappy not because of a failure to get but to give, 
and this, I submit, is the most important message of Christmas.     	
The baby in Bethlehem's manger was a gift, a present from a loving 
heavenly father to his lost and hurting children.

Why was Ebenezer Scrooge so unhappy? If you knew only the man's assets
and had never read Dickens's "A Christmas Carol," probably you could not 
guess the answer. Most of us believe (if we are honest enough to admit it) 
that happiness comes through getting. If only I can get a new (pick one) 
house, car, job, promotion, or relationship, I will be happy. But Ebenezer
Scrooge was unhappy not because of a failure to get but to give, and this, 
I submit, is the most important message of Christmas. 

I had to become a parent before I discovered the principle for myself. 
As a child the chief joy in life, especially at Christmas time, was 
getting. I still remember the happiness I felt receiving my first new 
Western Flyer bicycle, and what male child of the 1950s will forget his 
first Daisy Red Ryder BB gun? I also remember how quickly the new wore 
off of these gifts. And I remember my parents' dismay when, two days 
after Christmas, my siblings and I were more interested in building a 
fort from discarded boxes than playing with the expensive toys they 
had housed.

Similarly, as a parent I saw my own kids lose interest in their share of new
toys. But it was worth it. Words simply cannot describe the joy Charlotte
and I received watching our five open gifts on Christmas morning (a ritual
that often began before 6:00 a.m. when we finally gave in to incessant and 
insistent little voices at out bedside informing us that Santa Claus had 
indeed arrived). 

As I write these words, I think about the scooter Josh received at age four, 
and I wonder if he will ever enjoy driving his pickup truck as much as 
he did pushing that scooter. Similarly, I think of our Jonathan opening 
Tolkein's Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and I wonder if he and his wife Holly 
will one day receive as much pleasure reading them to their kids as his 
parents did to him. I could go on. Janet, Jeremy, and Joni (all young adults 
living away from home now) each call to mind a picture of a joyful child on
Christmas morning, their delight surpassed only by that of their parents.

But I don't need to illustrate the principle further; you have your own memories.
By midlife all of us should know that our best joys come through giving. And 
yet we forget; don't we? Maybe it's all those commercials that convince us we 
really can't be satisfied unless we buy the new and improved version of some 
product (translation: happiness comes through getting).

Christmas is a good time of year to remind ourselves of the truth. The most 
important message of Christmas is that of joyous giving. It's the message of 
our seasonal classics like "A Christmas Carol" and "It's A Wonderful Life." 
And, more importantly, it's the message of that first Christmas. For the baby 
in Bethlehem's manger was a gift, a present from a loving heavenly father to his 
lost and hurting children, a gift the Bible says brought "good tidings of great
joy" to giver and receiver alike.

Finally, the message of joyous giving is the most important message of this book.
Where will we find happiness in the second half of life? The same place we found 
it in the first half. Look around you. What are your opportunities to give with
joy? These are your best chances at midlife happiness.

For more information on this subject try: The Midlife's Moments. by Mike Bellah - Midlife's Moments Web Site.

Write to Mike at :mike@bestyears.com  
    
 

 SECTION 5: TAX BREAK



The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, recently passed by
Congress and signed into law by President Clinton on
August 5, 1997. The Act includes several big-ticket items
that will benefit individuals and businesses, including a
middle-class tax cut for families with children, a lowering
of the tax rate on capital gains, education tax incentives,
new savings incentives, an increase in the estate and gift tax
unified credit, alternative minimum tax relief for businesses
and other measures.


While many of the law’s provisions are aimed at “middle class”
taxpayers, higher-income investors, business owners, and people with
accumulated wealth may also benefit from the changes. At the same time,
the new law eliminates or reduces some tax breaks—and contains
numerous snares for the unwary.

The newly enacted changes are extensive and the effects on you, your
family and/or your business may be significant.  We will provide 
further details in the future.  Internal Revenue Service also issues 
guidance on these provisions.  You should consult with your tax advisor
for specific applications to these situation.

    
 
 SECTION 6: BOOMER OF THE MONTH 
       December 1997
Congratulations to : Jan Simas
Check out Boomer Of the Month at: http://boomersint.org/boomotm.htm

   
 SECTION 7: SUBSCRIBE INSTRUCTIONS
      
Send an email to: boomersint@aol.com 
	Subject Newsletter Subscribing.

    

 
 SECTION 8: REMOVE INSTRUCTIONS
    
To receive no future mailings from this site simply 
send an e-mail to: boomersint@aol.com.
 	Subject Newsletter un-subscribing.