Christ offers hope, Pres. Hinckley says

Despite death, war and calamity that haunt some even during the Christmas season, Jesus Christ offers the hope of salvation to all.

"He left his mark upon the world, which can never be erased nor diminished," said LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley during the annual First Presidency Christmas devotional Sunday night. "Our eternal lives are in his hands, and our eternal progress lies in obedience to his teachings."

Speaking to a capacity crowd in the Conference Center and via satellite to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered in chapels across the world, he spoke briefly of the Christmas of 1930. At the time, he was a young man, and his mother had died the previous month. The holiday was "the saddest our family ever experienced."

"My father, still a relatively young man, felt alone and awkward. He did his best to hide his sorrow, but it was evident."

President Hinckley said he has again known "much of loneliness" since his wife, Marjorie, died nearly three years ago. But as when his mother died, "again, shining through all of the darkness is the sublime figure of the Son of God, who gave his life that we might live."

Christ offers a peace that fills men's hearts, particularly in December. "Of all the seasons of the year there is none so beautiful as Christmas," he said. "Our hearts reach out to those in need. Love overcomes hate.

"Love grows a little stronger, hearts are a little more generous. We are more inclined to strengthen feeble knees and lift up the hands that hang down. Children's hearts are made glad. There comes an added magic in the air. There is a deep underlying current of happiness."

Such feelings are due in large measure to the spirit of love and generosity that seems more apparent this season, said President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency. "This is a time for families. It is a time for remembering. It is a time for gratitude."

Author Charles Dickens' character, Scrooge, finally realizes what counts most in life at the end of Dickens' tale, "A Christmas Carol," President Monson said. "I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year," he said, quoting Scrooge. "I will live in the past, the present and the future. The spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons they teach."

Likewise, Latter-day Saints would do well to remember such lessons all year long. Rather than turning Christ away with the attitude that there is "no room" inside as there was no room for the biblical Mary and Joseph, those who find room for him "shall live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."