A
friend stresses because her adult daughter refuses to set up a Christmas tree
in her new apartment, leaving all the heirloom ornaments the mother collected
over the years boxed up in storage.
Another
woman bemoans the fact that she’s using a three-foot table tree because she
doesn’t feel up to digging out her full-size version from the basement crawl
space. She purchased a complete set of fancy new ornaments, but she’s still
discontent.
Someone
at church complains about the absence of a Christmas choir. And the similar
lack of a special children’s program doubles her angst.
Another
friend grieves because her children and grandchildren can’t all make it to her
house on the same day. They’ll come at different times and each gathering will
be sweet and joyful, but the fact that they won’t all be together at once irks
her.
And
many confess about how they cannot give their kids all the toys the children
expect – based on the commercials and other marketing schemes to which they’ve been
exposed for months. In fact, some will be lucky to wrap even a few small
trinkets for each child, let alone anything with bells and whistles.
In
every case, the sentiment that glares through the circumstances is that “it
won’t be a real Christmas” because something or other is not “right.”
But
what is a “real Christmas?” In reality, the birth of Christ – the occasion for
which the event is named and which has long been its ultimate focus – most
likely occurred in the fall, not winter. And nighttime temperatures in Israel
average around 60o Fahrenheit at that time of year, effectively
shattering all the songs about silent, snow-filled evenings. In reality, God
chose a poor carpenter and his fiancĂ© as Jesus’ earthly parents, and no fanfare
save for perhaps the bleating of sheep and the bray of a donkey greeted his
birth. Kings did visit him, but they didn’t arrive until he was a toddler. And
at one point the family fled to Egypt as refugees before returning to Galilee,
where friends and family gossiped about the circumstances surrounding Jesus’
conception for years.
I
don’t think it’s wrong that we use December 25 – which was chosen
somewhere between 273 and 336 AD – as a common celebration day. I don’t think
gifts, decorated evergreen trees, beautiful carols, time with family, or even
fat men in red suits (a legend that originated in the real person of Nicholas
of Myra, a devout Christ-follower) are blasphemous. However, when we come to
feel that a Christmas celebration won’t be real when our modern, culturally
driven ideals miss the mark, we cheat ourselves and send a dangerous message to
our kids.
In
reality, the only thing needed for a “real Christmas” is Jesus – and a heart
inclined toward him. Take away every single thing we’ve built up over the years
as representing “a real Christmas,” leaving only that, and you’ll have the most
real celebration of your life.
*****
No comments:
Post a Comment