Christmas morning for the kids is such a happy time as they exclaim over all kinds of stuff under ornamented trees or poking out of stuffed stockings.
The Christmas season is a miraculous time for retailers. More and more businesses are saved by shoppers buying Christmas stuff every year.
Of course, the real miracle of Christmas is not about stuff. Just the name “Christmas” tells us that. It comes from the Old English words Crīstes mæsse, meaning Christ’s mass, the festival celebrating the birth of Christ.
The piles of circulars that make newspapers terribly heavy this time of year and the incessant Internet and TV ads don’t focus much on the Christ part of Christmas. They’re all about merchandising stuff. That’s part of the trend by merchants, government, and the irreligious to emphasize the festive part of Christmas and de-emphasize the Christ part, e.g. Happy Holidays vs Merry Christmas.
For too many, Christmas has become all about stuff and good times. Interestingly, secular festivities have competed for ascendancy during the Christmas season since the Fourth Century. The early church celebrated the baptism, death and resurrection of Jesus, but not His birth. Some church historians say the celebration of Christ’s birth came about to draw people away from pagan festivals that occurred about the same time – the German yule festival and Celtic solstice legend of Balder are cited at Christianity.com. Then there was Saturnalia, the pagan festival when Romans feasted and gave gifts to the poor.
Nonetheless, the festivities celebrating the birth of Christ are intended to include a healthy portion of worship, e.g. giving thanks to God for the birth of His only begotten son, joining in Christian fellowship, and singing His praises.
With strong forces dimming the true meaning of Christmas, it’s up to churches and families to keep this balance alive. Your pastor has probably urged you to better balance your secular stuff with the real stuff of Christmas.
For example, balance those smiles of joy on Christmas morn from opening stuff with smiles of joy from the carols and fellowship of Christmas, smiles from hearing the story of Christmas told once more, or tears from the Christmas family blessing lifting Jesus up.
Or how about giving prayers along with or in place of stuff? A beneficiary of prayer myself, I know my neighbors, friends, and family members will benefit far more from prayer gifts than any stuff I could give them. Indeed, there is great joy in prayers answered for the health and well-being of friends and family…Tom, Jamie, Roger, Sid, Bob, Jan, Sharon, and babies Sawyer, Isaac, Owen, and Daisy to name a few. His angels have been so busy.
Or how about giving stuff and prayers as acts of charity? There are those who truly need stuff to survive as well prayers for a better future, e.g. the refugees and victims of disaster, war, poverty, and pestilence.
Hear's wishing you joy from the real stuff of Christmas this year. I also pray our Lord of mercy and love will send His guardian angels to protect, comfort, and heal you. Merry Christmas.
Crawford (crawfolk@gmail.com) is a syndicated columnist from Meridian.
4 comments:
Is this guy, Crawford, a leftist or just a Grump? Kingfish could have left off Crawford's name and let us assume that was written by just another Gannett liberal.
Bill, that is lovely.
I think it's wonderful that those who are Jewish and " pagan" embraced this Christian holiday season and still can. You forgot Hanukah,by the way.
It was " good politics" by Christians back then, wasn't it? It grew the number of believers to be inclusive rather than offensive as it allowed them to have faith which isn't real if coerced.
I have loved always that my Jewish and non-Christian friends would work for me so I could go to church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and have extra days for charity by combining vacation days.
I love that I exchange gifts with friends who are not church going Christians, but who are Jewish or agnostic or atheists or even Muslim and Hindu. Some of my Jewish friends have decorations and a tree.
Aside of the spewing of those with a political or personal agenda in the media, no one ever has once shown a bit of resentment when I wished them " Merry Christmas". My Muslim and Hindu and Jewish and atheists and agnostic friends actually have actually wished me " Merry Christmas" and to wish them " Happy Holidays" seemed a return of good will to me. I have never seen anyone mistreated while saying " Merry Christmas" or had anyone I've ever known in all my life tell me they have been mistreated.
If anyone had been ugly in response to a pleasant greeting, I'd still just assume that person was mentally ill and not take it personally.
That tidings of comfort and joy are shared by everyone during this season is something us Christians should rejoice. We shouldn't try to keep the tidings and joy to ourselves. We should rejoice that so many now believe in One God by any translation of that word, not gods.
I'll be praying that those who want to divide us rather to the point of missing the message of love given to Christians, don't succeed and that the message of "peace on earth, good will toward men" isn't lost forever.
Alternate opinion and post not welcome.
People may not have the same belief as you but common courtesy still works. Why would any person, no matter what their beliefs might be, intentionally make another person feel bad when they think they are doing good? You do not have to believe the same as the other person to wish they have a good and happy holiday.
People try so hard to be different from other people. We really are not that different. We all believe in something. Even those who have no religion have a belief in themselves. You do not have to believe in some certain religion to be a good person.
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