Friday, January 14, 2011

::holiday afterthoughts



I do not enjoy hearing people climb atop annoying soapboxes about how retail employees don't say "Merry Christmas" anymore.
I'm not bothered by the Holiday Sensitivity Initiative.

I was bothered, however, by a conversation I had between the 2010 holidays.
The one with whom I was conversing, when told that my church holds a worship service on Christmas morning, asked with a fair amount of distaste, "On Christmas Day? Are you serious?"

Um, yes.
Quite serious.
What do you think Christmas is for?
Honeybaked ham and iridescent bows and spiral-curled ribbons concealing all manner of neatly packaged digital distraction?
NO.

Despite having been raised in a Christian home, I must admit, with a fair amount of shame, that I never quite fully understood what Christmas was for.
That is, until three years ago, when I went to church on Christmas morning, and partook of the Body and Blood of the little baby Jesus.
The story of Christ crystallized in a fresh, sharply poignant manner.

My attitude has changed drastically from
Let's Get Church Out of the Way and Get to the Presents!
TO
Let's Get Presents Out of the Way and Get to the Worship.

Gifts and get-togethers and other such trappings have become entirely secondary, and I still cannot fathom the liberation that has arrived with this experience.
I would wish it upon every Christmas celebrant.

2 comments:

Scot said...

Increase your wonderment: properly celebrate Advent as a time of preparation, i.e. no "Christmas" concerts, parties, etc. Celebrate Christmas for 12 days. The Church has so many riches, if we would only uncover them.

Scot said...

P.S. Ham on Christmas? How goy of you.

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