Christmas is coming.
This Christmas there are many things to be considered. For example..... how will my loved ones react to NOT getting christmas presents? How will I find the balls to stick up for myself and go to ONLY the family gatherings where the relatives are related to me? Do I dare ask God for the one thing that I truly want for Christmas? The thing that is priceless, the thing that can't be bought or sold or given to me by anyone but Him?
In my heart I've already asked..... or at least hinted, the timid sort of chickenshit asking that probably doesn't deserve a response.
Christmas is coming.
All over the world, people are buying useless stuff for other people, checking items off lists so more people can stuff more useless stuff in their closets until they finally, years later, throw it away or drop it off in a cardboard box at the salvation army..... tv stations are using sex and santa claus to push their products under the guise of goodwill and holiday cheer..... millions of dollars are powering colored lights wound around plastic reindeer and hedges and fences and pine trees.... and all of it is for what?
I've heard somewhere that we're supposedly celebrating the birth of Christ, but not much of what I see and hear at Christmas time speaks to me of a humble birth in a manger, contentedness amidst poverty, quiet celebration for the downtrodden. It would seem that if I would only take the time to focus on "the meaning of christmas" I could ignore the gaudy bombardment of commercialism and capitalism, the exploitation of religion to push the ever pervasive theme of our society, and that theme is "me"
For christmas, I want this and this and this and this...... and we think if we read the story from Luke of Mary and Joseph and the angels and shepherds and the crowded hotels, somehow we've justified our rampage of materialism.
Every christmas, I mostly just grumble about how I hate christmas. It's an expensive holiday full of emotional turbulence that I simply haven't the energy to invest in. 6 family gatherings and hundreds of dollars later I'm still just a selfish overfed north american who is missing the point of Jesus Christ if for one moment I thought that I could overlook the plight of the poor while acknowledging my Lord.
How I would love to peer through the haze and find the heart of God, give His Son the birthday party He really wants.
I won't be sending my mom a list this year. In my heart is one thing that can't be bought, and only God can give.
In His heart is one thing that can't be bought, and only I can give.
This Christmas there are many things to be considered. For example..... how will my loved ones react to NOT getting christmas presents? How will I find the balls to stick up for myself and go to ONLY the family gatherings where the relatives are related to me? Do I dare ask God for the one thing that I truly want for Christmas? The thing that is priceless, the thing that can't be bought or sold or given to me by anyone but Him?
In my heart I've already asked..... or at least hinted, the timid sort of chickenshit asking that probably doesn't deserve a response.
Christmas is coming.
All over the world, people are buying useless stuff for other people, checking items off lists so more people can stuff more useless stuff in their closets until they finally, years later, throw it away or drop it off in a cardboard box at the salvation army..... tv stations are using sex and santa claus to push their products under the guise of goodwill and holiday cheer..... millions of dollars are powering colored lights wound around plastic reindeer and hedges and fences and pine trees.... and all of it is for what?
I've heard somewhere that we're supposedly celebrating the birth of Christ, but not much of what I see and hear at Christmas time speaks to me of a humble birth in a manger, contentedness amidst poverty, quiet celebration for the downtrodden. It would seem that if I would only take the time to focus on "the meaning of christmas" I could ignore the gaudy bombardment of commercialism and capitalism, the exploitation of religion to push the ever pervasive theme of our society, and that theme is "me"
For christmas, I want this and this and this and this...... and we think if we read the story from Luke of Mary and Joseph and the angels and shepherds and the crowded hotels, somehow we've justified our rampage of materialism.
Every christmas, I mostly just grumble about how I hate christmas. It's an expensive holiday full of emotional turbulence that I simply haven't the energy to invest in. 6 family gatherings and hundreds of dollars later I'm still just a selfish overfed north american who is missing the point of Jesus Christ if for one moment I thought that I could overlook the plight of the poor while acknowledging my Lord.
How I would love to peer through the haze and find the heart of God, give His Son the birthday party He really wants.
I won't be sending my mom a list this year. In my heart is one thing that can't be bought, and only God can give.
In His heart is one thing that can't be bought, and only I can give.
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