The "I Don't Care" of Christmas

This is a follow-up to another post I recently wrote. Enjoy!

So apparently there's this big holiday coming up. People are getting excited, and for some reason, extra mushy-gushy. Something about presents, a tree, and some other nonsense. Yada, yada, yada.

Is there any chance that this echoes how you feel around this time of the year?

If so, you're not alone.

Every year around this time, I get a little (read: very) cynical. Frankly, I stop caring about Christmas.

Say whaaaaaaaaat?!

Yeah, I know. I'm not a good American. Or Christian. Or both. Something like that. Feel free to stone me, if you please. But hear me out before you do.

I'm so fed up with everything about Christmas. This post should have made that clear enough. It celebrates everything I hate about America. Our materialism. Our self-centeredness. Our excessive wealth.

More than that, though, it celebrates a fundamental truth about each and every one of us: there's an emptiness inside of us that needs to be filled. We each recognize it to some extent and go to extravagant measures to fill it. Sadly, all the stuff in the world can't patch the crater that exists in our souls.

Sure, some of us think that "Jesus is the reason for the season." If that's really the case, why don't we show that? Christmas season lasts about a month, and yet we only dedicate a few hours of that month to "the reason" for it. Sounds like a big, fat lie to me.

Instead, we dedicate hundreds of hours to shopping, wrapping, and opening presents. The culmination of it all comes Christmas morning around the Christmas tree as we try our hardest to top the "magical" feeling we had the year before. Really, though, we're just looking to get more stuff than the year before, and if we don't, it's a "bad" Christmas.

None of it makes sense.

As I've thought about this, I've wondered what I can do to rekindle the true meaning of Christmas, even for a moment. I've submitted to the fact that, by myself, I can't make Christmas about what it truly should be. And it may never mean what it should. However, I have found that if I can claim moments of Christmas for what it should be, that must be better than nothing.

So I remember...

I remember the silence - the hundreds of years before Jesus' birth when everyone thought God had died.

I remember the pain - a teenage girl giving birth in a barn.

I remember the hopelessness - a child born at the worst possible time.

But I also remember...

God speaking. Not through word, but in action. Instead of just saying, "I'm still here," He came.

The healing. A broken family, united in love by a child.

The hope. A savior, born to bear the sins of the world, to give us a second chance at life.

And so, like Mary, I treasure these things. 

In a world of broken busyness and extravagant excess, I remember that I have a father who was willing to sacrifice everything for me, and not so I could spend my time giving people stuff they don't need.

People need to hear God's voice. People need to be healed. People need a new hope.

People need Christmas.

I need Christmas.

And though you don't care about it, maybe you do too.

... ... ...

Questions: Do you care about Christmas? What is your favorite part about the holiday? What can you do to enjoy Christmas more?

The War on Christmas

I worked out yesterday, but I'm not sore today, so I feel like it didn't count or something.

Ten days, seventeen hours, and five minutes.

Let me guess: you didn't even have to look and see what day I'm referring to.

So what was your first thought when you saw that countdown to Christmas? Excitement? Joy? Dread? Apathy? Disgust?

My first thought was definitely: "Holy poop, Christmas is in ten days."

My second thought was confusing, especially in comparison to my first: "Let's get it over with!"

Photo credit: Flikr - greyloch

Oh snap. I'm turning into Scrooge. Or maybe the Grinch is a more appropriate description. 

You see, I used to love Christmas. Like every kid, I loved presents. But now, I don't even know what I want for Christmas most of the time (hence this post). And yet, I'm told that there's much more to this holiday season than gifts. But I just don't see it.

Instead, here's what I see:

Commercialism. Selfishness. Materialism. Greedy spirits. Fighting and bickering among loved ones. A supposed "war" on Christmas.

Meanwhile, I'm left scratching my head, unsure of what Jesus has to do with any of this. Heck, I wonder if Jesus has any clue we're counting down to his big birthday bash with the way we act around this time of year.

Sure, charitable giving goes up. We're all excited to lend a helping hand to anyone who asks. But when it comes down to it, if things don't go our way, we're "bahhumbug"-ing the entire way through and could care less about those who are truly in need.

It's all insanity, and I don't understand it. Heck, I'm even a part of it!

We've taken something so simple, and yet so beautiful, and turned it into a monster. Frankenstein's got nothin' on the beast that we've created called "Christmas" (or as several people like to deem it around this time of year, "CHRISTmas"). No matter how you capitalize it, Jesus has nothing to do with what we're doing down here on December 25th.

Sadly, there is a war on Christmas going on. But it has little to do with retail and department stores. And it has absolutely nothing to do with whether you say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy holidays."

Truth be told, if you're "fighting" the "war" espoused by the media around this time of year, then chances are, you're on the wrong side.

The real war on Christmas is a one-sided affair, and most of us are losing the battle.

Christmas isn't lost, though.

I see it when people gather simply to be together, with no pretense of "gathering for the holidays" (and by "holidays," I mean presents). 

I see it as people share the Christmas story with their families from the Bible.

I see it when people give more than they are able to, because someone needs food or a home, and not just because we're worried they "won't have a Christmas."

Fight for Christmas this year, and remember what it's truly about.

Question: What excites you most about Christmas? What's your favorite holiday tradition around this time of year? How are you working to remember what Christmas is truly about?

The "I Don't Know" of Christmas

I'm starting to measure the productivity of my days by the number of dishes that I wash in our apartment. Oh, dear. 

It's that time of year again.

You know the drill: lights, cameras, and... well, action. Just not the movie-star kind of action. More like the I-can't-stand-my-family-and-need-an-excuse-to-leave kind of action. Surely you know what I'm talking about.

Now don't get me wrong. I love the holidays. I enjoy my family. Heck, I even like my in-laws. And I love any excuse to get out of school.

There's one thing, though, that always baffles me around this time of year. And no, it's not the fact that Jesus probably wasn't born on December 25th.

It's the inevitable "I don't know" of Christmas.

You've been there - I know it. You go to family reunions around Thanksgiving, and without fail, a particular relative or two asks you what you want for Christmas. You know it's coming every year, and yet, you inevitably mumble your answer:

"I don't know."

Now if you're reading this, you most likely don't need anything for Christmas (unless you have one too many "hole-y" socks - my wife claims this is the case for me). However, we all want something or other, right? I mean, you can never have enough stuff.

Or can you?

I think that "I don't know" moment at those family reunions with those pesky, persistent relatives reveals something about us.

Now, before you jump ship, let me just say that I'm not advocating the abandonment of Christmas gifts. In fact, I have a wish list for myself (which you can see here!). That isn't where I'm going with this (today, anyway).

What I am advocating, though, is a little more thought when we respond to others with our "wish list" for Christmas. If you had that "I don't know" moment this year, even for half a second, then I'm talking to you.

If you, for even a millisecond, weren't sure what you wanted for Christmas this year, consider wishing for something that someone else needs this year. There are a million and one ways that you can do this. One of my favorites, though, comes from the World Vision Gift Catalog.

This thing is so cool. You can buy a GOAT for crying out loud! I'm guessing you'll be the only person in your neighborhood wishing for that for Christmas.

And if goats aren't your thing, there are a bunch of other cool things you can wish for...

• A chicken. Not to eat, though, so don't get any ideas.
• A DUCK! Sorry, I just get really excited about this stuff.
• A sheep, if you don't want your gift to try and fly away.

Not to mention a few other cool things that would truly change this world...

• Emergency food for someone that's literally starving to death.
• Life-saving medicines for someone that's dying of a curable disease.
• Help for a girl who is being sexually exploited.

Wow.

Even as I type, I can't imagine wishing for anything else. 

... ... ...

Question: What are you wishing for this Christmas? Would you consider wishing for something out of the World Vision Gift Catalog?

Note: I am in no way affiliated with World Vision. I could disappear and they would never know. I just really like their gift catalog and think you would like it, too.