Good tidings of great joy”1 is the message of Christmas. Whenever we love and
serve, whenever we forget ourselves and lift others, we feel that joy. Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile.”2 Real joy is the blessed reward of selfless living.
Over a thousand years ago, the good King Wenceslas of Bohemia felt the joy of
helping others. Taught by his grandmother that faith should be put into action, King
Wenceslas became known for his kind and generous care of the poor. He found great joy in sharing his bounty. Legend recounts that one cold December night, the king looked out his window to see a man searching for firewood. The king decided to leave the warmth of his castle to comfort the man and his poor family. He and his page traveled through deep drifts of snow and wind carrying wood for the family’s dying fire and food for their scant table.
When the page, exhausted and chilled in the extreme weather, felt he could go no
further, the good king reassured him:
Mark my footsteps, my good page, tread thou in them boldly,
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage, freeze thy blood less coldly.3
Walking in his master’s footsteps, the page was able to finish the journey and find joy
in serving the needy family.
And so it goes for each of us. As we walk in the Master’s footsteps, as we bring good
tidings to those around us, we feel the great joy of Christmas, the lasting joy that warms our hearts—and the hearts of those we serve—the whole year through.
Program #3983
1. Luke 2:10.
2. Wilfred T. Grenfell, in The Treasure Chest, ed. Charles L. Wallis (1965), 153.
3. John Mason Neale, “Good King Wenceslas,” in Jean Richardson, Stephen’s Feast (1991), inside front cover.