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When was the last time you walked in the fields, no houses or people, no cars and streets in sight? Just walking, looking at the fields, the trees, maybe some horses, and the beautiful skies, clouds, and the sun spreading its beautiful colors.

I like walking in the fields whenever I get a chance. At the end of summer, when our little family visits the grandparents in their countryside house, I like to take some bags and roam the fields, seeking fruits. When our teenage daughter saw me going out like this, she said: “Daddy is going into the fields like an 18th century man.”

In the eyes of a young teen, growing up with smartphones, TikTok, Instagram, etc., seeing me, living without these gadgets, preferring to walk in nature, I look like an 18th century man!

She doesn’t have to go back that far in history. During my grade school years in the last century, my favorite activity in the summer holidays was visiting close family friends at their farm. They basically lived self-sufficiently. They had a little farm, chickens running around freely, some pigs and cows, giving fresh unpolluted eggs, milk and meat, with their own organic vegetables and fruits. Life on the farm, near God’s creation, kept me busy. I didn’t need television or fancy plastic toys, much less modern electronics, social media and all the entertainment and advertisements of today.

Anyway, back to the 21st century. I like to take some bags and go into the fields, picking apples, plums, pears, walnuts, and potatoes – whatever God provides and is of course something I can pick freely. For example, after the potato harvest, there are plenty of potatoes left on the field, which we are free to pick up, and they even last longer than the ones from the shop! And trees out there have all kinds of yummy fruits – all organic.

After I pick those fruits, we make good use of them. We eat them fresh and make yummy strudels, cakes, and apple puree. I cut up the apples while listening to podcasts during our devotions. Then I bring them to a short boil, blend them and freeze them – without any sugar or other additives. I eat it with my healthy muesli every morning.

Some family friends who are elderly and know about this habit let us pick their fruits and nuts. So, we end up with enough applesauce for the whole year.

We can learn a lot from the good ol’ days, our forefathers and mothers, who lived closer to nature and had more faith in God than people have today. They knew a few things we lost in this modern techno world.

Most of us know of the three wise men who follow the guiding star, and visit the child Jesus with gifts.

In 1895 Henry Van Dyke wrote this beautiful short novel called “The Story of the Other Wise Man.”

What’s the story about? This fourth wise man also sees the same signs in the heavens and sets out to find the Child Jesus; carrying his gifts of a Sapphire, a Ruby, and a very precious Pearl. But nothing goes as planned. He misses his rendezvous with the other three wise men because he is delayed helping a dying man. Now, to cross the desert alone he needs camels and supplies and sells one of his treasures to buy them. He arrives late in Bethlehem after saving the life of a child using another of his treasures. In the meantime, the child Jesus has left Bethlehem.

And after many years looking for Jesus and many acts of charity, he spends his last treasure to save a girl from being sold into slavery. He dies without ever finding Jesus, but as he is dying, he hears the Divine voice saying, “…as you have done for them…you did for me”. His gifts were indeed accepted [by Jesus], and, in a sense, he found God in a deeper way than even the other wise men.

It’s a powerful story! And for me it offers some insights for the Christmas season:

1) When things don’t go our way, when we struggle, feel lost, when we endure hardships and delays, when the goal seems out of reach… This story is a reminder that, in fact, we may be closer to our goals than we think. That we may have traveled further than we realize, and that every delay and set back may be working in our favor in profound and wonderful ways. At the end of our journey, we may see all the hidden miracles which were disguised as hardships. But to see them now is a miracle of faith. And the Christmas story invites us to such a kind of faith.

2) The highest rewards call for sacrifice, patience, endurance and goodwill. We all know that nothing worthwhile comes easy. And as this wise man found his great reward after what seemed like an endless struggle, he stayed true to his cause, persisted, and nurtured within him the desire to do good in spite of every struggle. This is a story of hope. And Christmas urges us to look at any aspect of life where we have lost hope or are losing hope. Can we choose to hope even when everything seems lost, and seek the courage to endure?

3) The greatest gifts the wise man gave God were his acts of Charity. Giving without measuring. Giving repeatedly. Giving even though it cost him dearly. If Christmas is about anything of significance…it’s about giving. It’s about God giving us everything. And about how we continue that cycle of giving by sharing what we have. Perhaps we ask ourselves this Christmas how we can give others our time, our resources, our talent, our listening ear…or maybe just a small gesture to tell people we care about that they are not alone in their struggles. A message of love.

To me, it’s really about these three things. Faith. Hope. And Love. And I believe this Christmas, like every Christmas, can become significant when we become bearers of the Divine light…by choosing faith, daring to hope, and committing to love others…even if in the smallest ways.

Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.