“No, sir, it’s a donation,” the kind woman said with a comforting smile. “Thank you for all your staff does.”

Christmas Eve morning I had stopped into our local religious supplies store to pick up communion supplies for our Christmas Day worship at the shelter.

The generous woman helping me took one look at my shelter badge and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Everything on the house, a donation to help make our service beautiful.

I finished my happy cry sitting in my pickup. What a joy to begin Christmas!

Friends, the world is not as bad as we want to believe. There is still much goodness done, still many kind people to be found and so much joy to be experienced!

As we wind down a year that could easily be described as divisive, I would remind you that here at home, thousands of givers donated millions of dollars — most often in bits less than $75 — to stave off an emergency shelter’s closure and put us on a path to financial viability.

A Christmas Miracle indeed!

There are many who profiteer from influencing us to believe that all is bad, that there is no unity, that we somehow can’t care for all of our neighbors. And they’re selling a falsehood because they benefit from it.

A year and a half into my mission gig, I can tell you that the vast majority of people I talk with believe in the services we provide, and they want to help as they can. For some it’s volunteerism; others it’s in-kind donations; and still others are able to give a financial donation.

But nearly everyone does give if asked.

As we roll into this new year, I invite you into the Christmas Miracle all year round!

The true beauty of the Christ child being born into a young family of meager means, surrounded by barn animals in essentially a backwater village in the desert … well, that beauty is that its majesty is no less holy nor prevalent a week from now or six months from now.

Unfortunately, we just let the awe fade with our everyday tedium. The daily grind wears us down and makes us susceptible to the predators who peddle mischief, those who earn a living by sowing fear and hate and distrust.

The gift of Jesus’ birth should fill us with joy year round, not just for a few days in December as we close out another busy year.

Look for the joy, compliment the kind-hearted, and hold tight to the belief that the world is good. After all, the Creator tells us it is so all the way back in the Book of Genesis, at the very beginning of this entire creation story!

Jesus’ birth is just the star on the top of the tree of Good News, my frinds! Merry Christmas!

Devlyn Brooks is the CEO of Churches United in Moorhead, Minn., and an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America serving Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He blogs about faith at findingfaithin.com, and can be reached at devlynbrooks@gmail.com.