Sprinkles of Christmas

Told by Cheryl A. Brown, November 6, 1980

Once upon a Christmas season not so long ago, in a land far, far away, beyond the Great Eastern Star is a land called Crystal Land. It is such a beautiful place to see. Everything there is made of ice. In the land of Crystal is a beautiful palace. Wherever you go, it shines and glimmers in every color of the rainbow, and though it is made of ice, no one is ever cold there, for this place is filled with love. In this land of love live the Christmas Fairies who take care of Christmas the world over.

This Christmas, the fairies are very upset. It seems as though the people of the world are so busy they forgotten what this season is really all about. It will be up to the fairies to show them the way. It is going to be quite a job!

A meeting was called in the Great Fairy Hall. Everyone must go! The judges were dressed in their very best robes. They were purple and gold and were long to the floor. Their hats were tall and pointed and matched their robes. The fairies were dressed in their very best Christmas robes and they were all the colors of the sunsets and sunrises and the flowers of the earth. And as they floated through the halls of ice, prisms of color danced all around them. Beautiful Red Poinsettias lined the room.

As the judges were seated, order was called, and everyone came to attention. The head judge, Winter, had a long white beard, a big white mustache, and long white hair. Autumn was the next judge and had bright red hair like the beautiful colors of fall. Spring had yellow hair like the first daffodils of spring, and summer didn’t have any hair at all!

The fairies were very excited because they knew something big was about to happen. They flitted around, their wings moving faster and faster the more excited they became. Winter began speaking: “It appears we have a problem, and it seems like a big one. We are going to pick three fairies to spread the word among the people, to remind them what this season is really all about.”

Three fairies stood out among them, Kindness, Love and Sunshine. Kindness was very beautiful. Love was very homely, and Sunshine was very bright. The fairies came forward to face old man Winter.

“How are we going to do this job? We only have a short time to do all of this work. Shall we go to a gypsy?” asked Sunshine.

“Maybe she can look in her crystal ball, or maybe we could go to Santa’s helpers or Santa himself.” Said Kindness.

“Or we could go to our Father and ask what He would have us do. We need food for the hungry, clothes for the orphaned children, warm places and warm hearts for the lonely and elderly people, and help for the sick and homeless. This is going to be such a hard job to do!”

The fairies decided to go to the Great Kingdom. There they bowed their heads in utmost respect when His presence was felt.

He asked what they wanted from Him. He created all of his children and all things on earth to help and protect each other. He looked down on his earth and was very sad at the way Christmas was turned into man’s greed for power and money, and He was touched by the concern of these three beautiful fairies for the world.

“You must seek out the people, all of the people, to lead the way to bring this day back to the true cause, for this is the day my son was born!”

The three fairies stood in sadness before Him. “We have come to help the people, to see the spirit of Christmas again to see the love, kindness, and sunshine of life. Won’t you please help us?”

“I can only give you so much”, He said, “and that is the wisdom to help all of my children by helping themselves.”

“To Kindness, I will give the sprinkles of red, which mean kindness.

To Sunshine, the sprinkles of gold, and to you Love, I will give the sprinkles of silver which mean love. These sprinkles will come from your hearts. Here is a list of people who need you.”

The fairies took the list back to the Great Hall where everyone was called to meet again. “This seems like such a great big job for three small fairies, but He has given you the help you need to carry out the meaning of Christmas.” Said Winter.

Kindness, Love and Sunshine had only fourteen days to spread the word and they must get busy. They started at the top of the list, oh such a very long list!

First, Kindness found a man sitting in an old, run down shack, crying because he had nothing to give anyone. When he saw Kindness, he said, “You are very pretty.” He liked to look at her. She said, “I have come to help you.”
“But I have nothing…” As he was saying this, the sprinkles of red came from her heart and suddenly he began to feel better. He felt the kindness of the sprinkles. “Do not be sad, for you have much to give. There are people everywhere that need kindness. Look out of the window. Do you see that small child? He has no one to love or care for him. Go to him and put your arms around him. Hold him close and see the joy on his small face to fee the comfort of another human to hold him when he is lonely and sad. So the man did just that, and the two of them knew that they would, after all, have a wonderful Christmas!

Next, Love found a large crowd of shoppers pushing and shoving each other to buy their Christmas gifts first. Love was frightened at what she saw. She looked at her list and everyone was on it! “This must be the right place!” She thought.
When she opened her heart, the silver sprinkles covered the crowd. They turned to see her and at first, they turned away, for she was not pretty to look at, but as they felt the silver, they looked at her in awe, for love is not always pretty to see, for this is a feeling that comes from within. They looked at each other and felt the meaning of this. They became helpful of one another and polite and caring. With a sigh, Love could see the meaning of this season coming about.

Now there was Sunshine, and she had the hardest of jobs to do, for spreading sunshine where there is darkness is the hardest job of all. She knew it was not going to be easy, but she was bright of mind and knew that it could be done. She must give them a ray of sunshine.
She found a woman who had lost her husband and children in a fire many years ago. She was cold and uncaring, and was very sad and lost in her grief. Sadness had made her hate living. The poorest of people are the ones who are lost in their own minds.
When Sunshine approached her, she turned away, but the gold sprinkles poured out of Sunshine’s heart, and the woman looked at her in awe.

“Come”, said Sunshine. “I would like to show you something.” A ring of fire appeared, and inside, the woman could see the past. There was a man hanging on a cross. All around the fire ring were people of every color and creed. All of God’s creations appeared. The crippled, the tired, the sick, the hungry, the poor, and the orphaned.

“Look at the woman crying by the cross. That is Mary, his mother. Her son died that day, and she was saddened, and so was our Father, yet he finds sunshine in all of his other children. You must find the way to love, kindness, and sunshine within you for there are many children in the world who need it from you.”

If you feel the sprinkles of Christmas, then Kindness, Love and Sunshine will have reached everyone on their list. Take time to care and love one another. Remember the red, gold, and silver sprinkles, for they are the sprinkles of life.