Christmas!!!!
I love Christmas. Love it. The music, the lights, the chill in the air, the anticipation for snow, the warm sweaters and scarves, and Peppermint Mocha's at Starbucks...mmm yes, Christmas is here! Well...it will be. In less than a month!
And it makes me so happy because the whole world is bombarded with messages to be good to one another, to spread Christmas cheer, to be joyful for reasons as simple as snow, to spend time together with people you love, to be nice...on purpose. This time of year always gets me thinking. There is always the inevitable bombardment of tv adds telling children "You need this toy! You need this, and this, and oooooh man would you look at this!?!?" And us adults are attacked with technology adds saying "You've GOT to have this new whatcha-ma-call-it! And look at this doo-hicky! Oh boy, it's the fastest thing-a-ma-bob around, and you can get it for only this much!!" This part of the holidays makes me sad, and it would be easy for me to say BAH-HUMBUG to all that is Christmas, and pout about consumerism and how doomed the world is to spend itself into nothingness. It would be so easy to rant about how there are children in Africa, or India, or down the street, who have nothing, and spread the word about how we should feel guilty because we live in such a rich country...
Instead. I want to focus on Christmas. Christmas. What is this holiday about? Why does North America spend the month of December stressing good works and cheerfulness and giving and being thankful for warm houses and full bellies? Because of Christ. Let's face it, He is the reason for the Season. He came to save us, to give us everlasting life, and that is the greatest gift of all.
Jesus came and taught the most important things we could ever learn: To love God, and to love one another. To take care of the orphans and the widows, to spend time with the least and the lowest, to love with absolutely everything we have because God first loved us, and sent His Son just for us.
So this season, let's spread the cheer and give where we can and really focus on the reason for all of the lights and presents and the quality time we spend around the tree. Let's pray and give and love wherever we can and remember that we are truly and insanely blessed to live where we do and to have what we have.
Let's realize that we have everything we need in Christ. Everlasting love, forgiveness, and hope.
