Thanksgiving is over and now the retailers have told us it’s time to begin celebrating Christmas in earnest by shopping and spending money in their stores. Actually, now they are starting in October. If that sounds a little cynical, well it is. Each year when Advent begins I have a hard time getting into the spirit of things because of the increasing commercialization of the season that’s everywhere. It’s inescapable.
In the middle ages, Christmas was considered a holy day that was celebrated as the Christ Mass, and a special feast was enjoyed with gifts of food from the gentry to the serfs who worked their lands. It was a simple celebration of the coming of Christ into the world. It feels like we’ve lost sight of the simplicity of the season with crowding it with compulsory programs, special events, and pressured over spending.
This year, I’m going to do whatever I can to avoid the demands of the season that feel like they are not in keeping with the holy day that is coming. I want to capture the feeling of joy and peace in hope of the life that was gifted to us when Jesus was not yet a man carrying a cross; to know the babe in the manger born in lowly circumstances, and greet him with a humble heart.
I know others feel as I do and I sincerely hope that they will find what they seek as well. This year in the midst of tinsel and a Santa Claus in every shopping mall, I will see a crude stable and a young mother facing an unknown future with the child of promise in her arms. It’s my hope that the vision of this will lead me to a place of quiet, gentle celebration of his birth, so that as I gather with family the thought of it will keep all in proper perspective, and Christmas joy will be the natural outcome.
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