Readers Digest NZ Dec/Jan 2025

MEGAN MCARDLE/THE WASHINGTON POST The mist iced the roads and dropped the visibility to about 4 feet, forc- ing us to make an eme rgenc y overnight stop at a dismal motel. Little Huck’s eyes widened at his first snow. He dipped his precious little snout into the strange substance, gave the most darling sneeze—then res- olutely refused to do his business on that ridiculous stuff. We had to resort to a puppy pad in our bathroom, which made the motel room smell like a New York subway station in high summer. But as far as we were concerned, it was sweet perfume, and we fell asleep in a fog of happiness. For all the chaos, there is something intensely right about a Christmas puppy, because Christmas is love, and love is not the picture-perfect moment when everyone is carefully arranged in front of an eminently Instagrammable tree. It’s all the less glamorous things you do to get to the fleeting snapshot. Having a puppy teaches you this very quickly. Forget the innumerable movies in which a child’s eyes meet a puppy’s— love at first sight—because you don’t really love puppies when you get them. You are charmed and delighted by them and a little terrified by how tiny and frail they are. But the true love comes later, after long nights stand- ing outside in the frigid dark and muttering, “Can you please go al- ready?” and long days chasing them away f rom t h i s and that, and many anx i ous moment s Googling things such as “arugula dog toxic?” Those moments are liberally leavened by their charms: the quiz- zical looks, the comic determination of their playing, the sighs of perfect contentment as they burrow into your side for a nap. But you don’t get a puppy because you want to watch one looking cute. (You can do that for free on TikTok.) You want the trouble, because the trouble is what makes the rest of it so rewarding. What is true of puppies is true of people: Love is what we do for others. And I don’t just mean that sacrifice is the truest expression of love, though of course it is. Sacrifice might reflect our love, but it also creates it; it is the investment that generates the return. In the past two years, I have lost my parents (as well as Huck’s prede- cessor), and what surprised me most was how sad I was not to be able to do anything for them anymore. I had ex- pected to miss visits and phone calls— and I did. But I also missed cleaning the house and fixing electronics and reader ’ s digest 114   December 2025/January 2026 haggling with doctors. The years of eldercare had been overwhelming, but also had deepened my love for them into something it could never have been if I had not returned, in some small measure, all the years they had sacrificed for me. We do not truly know how much we care for someone until we have taken care of them. For believers, this helps answer the question critics have asked of Christi- anity since its beginning: Why did an all-powerful god need to be born to a woman and die on the cross? For Christians, this is the ultimate per- fection of love: Humanity is united to him by our need and his suffering. The joyous birth presages both redemption and sacrifice; they are inseparable. You don’t need to be a believer, however, to perceive that underneath the tinsel, the true joy of Christmas is generous, willing, wholehearted sac- rifice. Dinner might burn, gifts disap- point, decorations wilt, but the work that went into them, and the love we felt as we did it, remain undimin- ished. Indeed, it is often the disasters that become our fondest stories, be- ginning with “Remember when … ?” And for good reason: They remind us that we gave ourselves, despite every- thing, which is the one Christmas gift that cannot break or wear out. We often speak of Christmas as the end of the year, the culmination of the holiday season. But in fact, it’s a promise to the future—of more love, deeper love, love that will endure even after there’s an empty space in front of the hearth or a missing chair at the table. And this is why you get a Christmas puppy, against all reason. For the rest of the year, and forever, you will have the best part of Christ- mas every day. OFTEN THE DISASTERS BECOME OUR FONDEST STORIES. Let There Be Light What do Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Diwali all have in common? Light! FromYule logs to oil lamps to candles to fireworks, lights are everywhere this time of year, brightening spirits as days grow short, but also evoking the spark of the divine. As they reflect in our faith and in our January electric bills, holiday lights remind us that winter won’t last forever and the sun will someday return. NORTHJERSEY.COM THE WASHINGTON POST (DEC. 24, 2024), COPYRIGHT © 2024 BY THE WASHINGTON POST. readersdigest.co.nz 115 Life Well Lived