The "merry" in "Merry Christmas" might be the wrong word, President Gordon B. Hinckley suggested Dec. 2. "More appropriately," he added, "we might say, 'It is Christmas time; what can I do to help you? Are your burdens too heavy to carry? Is your sorrow too painful?"'
The Church president's comments came during his address at the annual First Presidency Christmas Devotional held in the Conference Center. His counselors in the First Presidency, President Thomas S. Monson and President Henry B. Eyring also spoke.
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square rendered seasonal music on a stage bedecked with brilliant reds, greens and golds, including tall, slender evergreens and, at the base of the rostrum, ample poinsettias.
With Craig Jessop and Mack Wilberg alternately directing and Andrew E. Unsworth at the organ, the choir and musicians performed "Wexford Carol," "One December Bright and Clear," "Still, Still, Still" and "How Far Is It to Bethlehem?" along with holiday favorites "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," and "Silent Night," with the capacity congregation joining in on the last verse of the latter carol.
"The world is full of sorrowful people," President Hinckley observed. Many of them feel totally beaten down. They are sick. They are impoverished. Life seems hopeless. Even at this season they seem oppressed by these feelings."
Yet, he added, the other side of the coin is bright with the image of the Babe of Bethlehem. "It is the image of a Christmas of hope. Engraved on its surface are the prophetic words of Isaiah, 'For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace' (Isaiah 9:6)."
Quoting the story in Luke 2 of the birth of the Christ child, President Hinckley recited the words of the carol "Joy to the World."
"All of us join in the spirit of this glad season," he proclaimed. "Our lives take on an added luster. We become less selfish, more generous. At no other time of the year are we quite the same."
He reminisced: "I have stood in the darkness of the night in Shepherds' Field, with the lights of Bethlehem in the distance. I have felt to lift my voice with the voice of the heavenly host who sang that first Christmas Eve, proclaiming that most glorious event, the birth of the Son of God, the Savior of the world."
He concluded: "May heaven's blessing rest upon us. May the Spirit of the Lord radiate from our hearts. May our love increase at this Christmas season.
"And so, my brethren and sisters, may the spirit of the Babe of Bethlehem permeate our hearts with added love and peace."
Elder Sheldon F. Child of the Seventy offered the invocation, and Sister Elaine S. Dalton, first counselor in the Young Women general presidency, gave the benediction.
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