Christmas

Okay, I realize this is about one day too late, but get over it.

This Christmas was different. Leading up to the big day I felt differently about Christmas than ever before. I don't really know why, it's not like there have been drastic family changes, or that I have done anything intentional to celebrate Christmas differently, however like most things these days, I'm changing the way I think about this whole event.

First of all, the whole debate about xmas bla bla blah- can the church really make this argument? Like most things we debate about, the root of the matter stems from the fact that we really only care because it means we will have less of a voice in Western culture. I think that in all likelihood (and this is pure conjecture) that most families probably celebrate Christmas exactly the way most pagan families do- presents, food, family, church. The only difference is that we are free to send Christmas cards that say things about Jesus on them.

I would argue that maybe we should start saying Happy Holidays because that is all it is. My friend Andrew wrote an article about the name of the Lord, using the Hebrew words qatan (small, insignificant) and qavod (heavy). He basically says that Rabbis refused to use the name of the Lord because it was too heavy, and they didn't want to risk treating it with insignificance. I think we throw Christ onto a holiday that is essentially about ourselves, 'the haul' and the time off to relax. It has nothing to do with Christ- he is small, insignificant.

And so, maybe Happy Holidays is appropriate- at the very least its more reverent than saying Merry Christmas and then spending a billion dollars on gifts and gorging ourselves on turkey.

Oh the bitterness, where does this all come from?

It's not all bad. I did get to spend Christmas eve at the shelter and let me tell you that I loved it. Over the course of the evening, a couple people stopped by. My favorite was a family of five, with three little kids. They were handing out some gifts that they brought- nothing extravagant- but everything is significant when you have nothing. The highlight of the night had to be when the five year old boy of the family went up to a couple of scruffy homeless guys and said 'merry Christmas', and then handed them the gift. That was probably the most 'Christ-massy' this I've seen. I think if I ever ended up with a family that that is what we might do on Christmas eve...

Please don't get me wrong. I really want to say Merry Christmas, but honestly, if its just a thing to do, a tradition that we accept, then really Christ means nothing in it and I'll take happy holidays. Of course, I want it to mean something...the trick is figuring out how to do that. The first step may be to recognizes the epiphany of the Christ as a daily reality... the savior who was born- born into reality first with 10 fingers, 10 toes... smelly, pukey and adorable and then bruised, beaten and glorious.

"Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master".