Now that the stores are counting their cash and wondering how deep the "after-Christmas" discounts might have to be, we can breathe a small sigh of relief. Christmas has come and gone, and very soon all these "holy" Christmas trees will be tossed on the curb like yesterday's garbage.
The battle over Wal Mart's insistence that customers be greeted with "happy holidays" has been declared over though I'm not sure if anyone won. Folks will begin shopping at Target again even though they are "anti-American" and "anti-Christian" (remember USMC's Toys for Tots and Salvation Army). In short, Christmas is over and I am almost of the opinion that even the non-believers will be giving a hearty "amen", and "thank God"!
If all I have said is really true, then Christmas truly is dead. A celebration of this magnitude must not be reduced to only a one-day-per-year event. It cannot be reduced to nothing more than a commercial venture.
Christmas is not simply a holy day; it is a STATE OF MIND and HEART and SOUL. Christmas as a celebration of "Emmanuel" ('God with us') cannot end when the sun goes down and the stores reopen for business as usual. If this happens, then Christmas truly has died.
Make no mistake, though: it will not be because of Wal Mart or Target or any other department store. It will not be because of politically correct politicians. It will not be because someone referred to the traditional Christmas Tree as a "holiday" tree.
It will be, instead, because Christmas never had life in the hearts and minds and souls of those who claim to be grateful for the Greatest Gift of All. Nothing will change the fact that Christ was born, but what He was born for has everything to do with how hearts receive Him.
Merry Christmas.
4 comments:
It is amazing how many people complain about the overcommercialization of Christmas, and yet we do it again and again every year.
I sense in pop culture a glorification of this trend -- that the acquisition of stuff in large quantities is enobling.
I wish I could say that I'm not guilty, but I would be lying. I am more than a little surprised by the anger that was displayed this season, though. Buying gifts is one thing, but getting uppity about what the signs on the store front say or what the sales people are saying is a little over the top.
You're right, John. We put far too much emphasis on the "stuff".
Happy Chanuka to you as well! It's funny that today I was corresponding with Paul Greenberg who is editorial page editor for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He wrote an exceptional piece about Chanuka (I did not know that Hanukkah and Chanuka were one and the same - he explained it).
His article for 12/26 was about what Chanuka means. It was an excellent spiritual perspective, and he did the Feast very well.
Thank you!
United Methodist is just another Christian denomination. There are some within who consider themselves to be "progressive", but I don't consider the United Methodist Church to be inherently "progressive" anymore than I consider the Presbyterians to be "progressive". To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure what a "progressive" is unless it's a new word for "liberal".
Forgive those who fail to see Hezbollah and Hamas for what they really are. These "progressives" are pretty sure that the US and Israel are responsible for all the misery in the world. Pity those who have somehow come to believe that attacking innocent women and children at shopping malls and schools is an acceptable means to a political end.
As a United Methodist, however, I am not so concerned with my denomination more than I am concerned with the words of Christ. Methodism has little to do with the condition of my heart and the state of my soul.
Have peace.
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