Do you have peace, joy and contentment in your life? Think about it.

As the Christmas season begins, we hear a lot about peace on earth and good will to all men. But do we have peace within ourselves? Do we have joy, contentment and peace?

There are people in this world who have no joy and contentment in anything they do, have or see. What a sad thing, when peace, joy and contentment are available for the taking. If we want real happiness, we have to look within ourselves. We need to take responsibility for our actions and feelings and not blame others for our lot in life. Be thankful for what we have.

During the Depression and the years after World War II, we learned to share what we had. It was a great lesson in caring about the concerns of others. Everyone was poor. Nobody had money to spend but we managed and always had something to share with others. Everybody was in the same situation. We learned from those circumstances what was important and what was not.

From those hard times we learned love of family was the most important thing in the world. We had plenty to eat and a safe, comfortable place to live, but we had none of the things we think are essential nowadays. We were content with what we had. We had joy, peace and happiness.

Being raised during hard times produced an understanding of the true meaning of joy and contentment. We were content with anything and everything we had and found joy in small things. We didn’t want everything in sight because we knew we could not afford them. We found pleasure in the smallest, most insignificant things. We appreciated our surroundings.

Love and peace comes from caring for others, and that includes caring for a spouse and family. In almost all good marriages, each spouse puts the other’s wishes and desires before their own. They are considerate of their spouse’s feelings. Families who respect other family members have a great deal of joy, contentment and peace when they get together. I might add they have a lot of fun, too! I know ours does. Love binds us all together.

For true contentment and joy we need to look to a higher being. We all worship our God in different ways. We need to be tolerant of how others honor their God. It seems to me the people who are truly happy and content are those who have joy within because they have God’s love that passes all understanding and comprehension. They are not always the people with the most money, best jobs or most possessions, but they have something that is peace on earth and good will to men.

With pre-season sales already, it is easy to get caught up in the stress of shopping. We get too busy wrapping packages and mailing cards. We think the house has to be just so-so for guests. We anguish over what we will serve at parties and holiday meals. We fail to enjoy the peacefulness of the season. What should be the happiest time of year can become hectic and chaotic.

There is no better time to begin finding joy, peace and contentment than at Christmastime. Everywhere we look there are needs. The Salvation Army, Toys for Tots, YWCA, Our Daily Bread, Horn or Plenty and others work all year to make the world a better place to live. They work especially hard at Christmas to bring joy, peace and contentment to others. If we really want to feel peace in our hearts we have only to give ourselves in some area of need and the joy will come.

One of the joys that brings contentment is cooking. When our family comes for the holidays, we cook together. What fun that is to share our time together with the joys of cooking. I hope we will do that again and again. Every year at Christmas, we make lots of toffee and divinity. By request, here is my recipe for toffee that takes only about 10 minutes to prepare. It makes nice gifts (if you can keep from eating it all yourself).



Toffee

1 cup finely chopped pecans

3⁄4 cup packed brown sugar

1⁄2 cup real butter

1⁄2 cup semisweet chocolate chips



Generously butter bottom and sides of 9x9 square pan. Spread pecans in pan. Heat brown sugar and butter in saucepan over medium heat and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Continue to boil for seven minutes stirring constantly. Immediately spread in prepared pan over pecans. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Cover with cookie sheet and let set one minute to melt chocolate. Spread softened chocolate over candy. Cut into squares while candy still is hot. Refrigerate uncovered for about two hours until firm.

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin in me. Have a peaceful and joyful Christmas season.



Send your comments to: Peggy Goodrich, Food For Thought, P.O. Box 1192, Enid, OK 73702.