Tis the Season

Christmas… I wonder what emotions that word brings up for you? Are you filled with joy? Tears? Wonder? Stress? Perhaps all four?

One of the classic pictures of Christmas for me is people visiting each other, perhaps sharing cookies and a cup of hot chocolate. But in recent years, it seems this tradition has been largely left behind. You might have a friend you would like to visit with but when you ask them if they could get together, they tell you, “Oh, I’m so busy right now. Let me get through the holidays and then I’ll have some time.” (But you know they never will)

First, let me point out their use of the phrase, “get through the holidays.” Now, for some people, holidays are a very difficult time emotionally and it is hard for them to find a smile. But for many of us, we tend to dive so deeply into Christmas shopping and preparing for a holiday party with friends or time with family, that we don’t actually spend any time with friends or family. It’s as if we spend the whole time in the kitchen but never at the table. And in doing so, we completely miss the point of the holidays. So what if your house isn’t clean? What does it matter? Why can’t you stop and see a friend, perhaps the one for whom Christmas is a hard time of year, and bring the greatest gift of companionship?

Jesus came to be with us. That is why we celebrate Christmas. We celebrate the presence of God with us, yet when it comes to this time of year, celebrating each other’s presences is the last thing we do. It frustrates me greatly that during this time of year dedicated to being with one another, we are too busy to actually do it. Our priorities our all wrong. We put the emphasis on the things we think are the gifts (the stuff) and not on the gifts that have atually been given (each other). I am pleading with you to not tell someone you are too busy this season to see them. The holidays are not for getting through. Perhaps it’s in this way, a bad economy is a blessing. We don’t have the money to go out and buy expensive gifts or expensive excursions but we have time to go for walks, to play games, to talk, and perhaps to bake, together.

Ask yourself, what is Christmas all about if not companionship and relationship? Look at a nativity set. Is there a cash register anywhere around? A mop? Is there grumpy people walking around a mall? Nope. And there never will be. What they have is each other. If this is what we are celebrating, shouldn’t we make time for the Jesus in each other?