Happy Holidays

Yay for the holidays! The most wonderful time of the year. The light, the sounds, the smells. Family time, playing with the kids and watching them enjoy new toys. It's all sort of magical. My question is this: in making Christmas magical, have we lost some of the reverence? Not just Christmas but Thanksgiving as well. Can we honestly say that as we plan our menu, guests, table settings, decor, family issues, set up, clean up, etc that our primary emotion is gratitude? I've been thinking lately about how the holidays all tie in together. My husband hates the phrase "Happy Holidays" because in his mind (and many others) it has become the politically correct way to say Merry Christmas. In an effort to not offend other religions, people will say Happy Holidays as sort of an umbrella statement. As you may or may not know about me, I'm not easily offended. I am easily annoyed but that's another story. When I hear Happy Holidays, I think of the 3 holidays that are all lumped together for me: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. As I've been reflecting on this for the past few years, I've really come to the conclusion that lumping these 3 holidays together could end up being a perfect combination for the desired condition of the heart.  

For those that aren't familiar with the concept of Advent, it is traditionally viewed as the four Sundays leading up to Christmas and is meant to be a time of preparing one's heart for the celebration of the arrival of Christ. It is very similar to Lent, though I'd guess most people don't really understand the point of Lent either. 

When you read the Old Testament, it's basically a collection of stories about how the Israelites continued to screw up (it's true, read your Bible.) They would end up in a bind because they hadn't followed God's law, a prophet would come tell them to repent of their sins and turn back to God, they would, and in turn He would forgive them and help sort through the mess they'd made. They did this over and over and over again. Intermixed into the stories, you can always find two things: the theme of redemption and a hope for a future deliverance. Then the prophets started getting wind of God's plan to send a Messiah, one who would bear the burden for their sins. And all God's people waited and hoped for the Messiah. With baited breath they waited as the prophets told them He would come soon, the One who would rescue and restore them to a right-standing with God. Generations passed and still no Messiah. Then there was a period of silence. No prophets, no messengers of God. 400 years passed from the last prophet of the Old Testament to the arrival of Jesus. Can you imagine that wait, that anticipation? And then He came, quietly in a manger in a tiny desert town called Bethlehem. The Savior of the World humbled Himself and came down to earth in the weakest form ever....a tiny, newborn baby. 

The magic of Christmas does not need additional pomp and circumstance. He did not come into this world with lights and trumpets and parades. He came quietly in the night, on a mission to save the world. The Creator of the universe became one of us to save all of us. That is magical. That is why we celebrate. But the meaning gets further lost every year. The reverence of the arrival of a Savior gets lost amidst the parties and shopping lists and expectations. We spend more time preparing the Elf on a Shelf then we do preparing our hearts for this holy season. We spend more time stressing about getting the perfect gift than we do reflecting on the fact that we have already received the perfect gift. We spend more time telling tales of Santa and reindeer than we do on the story of the first Christmas, the very reason we celebrate. 

So how can we switch tracks? How can we change the path we're on so that our kids grow up understanding the real magic of Christmas? One way is through Advent. To me, it's no coincidence that Advent begins right after Thanksgiving. What if we took the intentional "attitude of gratitude" we all have on Thanksgiving Day and continued it through the Advent season? What if we focused our conversations with children more on what they're thankful they DO have and less on the things they don't have? To me, a thankful heart is the best and only way to enter into the Advent or Christmas season so as not to become hyper-focused on the have-nots. It takes intentionality to remain focused on daily gratitude but can you imagine a Christmas celebration that comes from a pure and thankful heart? What if instead of spending the entire Christmas Day focused on presents (which will almost all end up in the trash or Goodwill at some point), we focus on PRESENCE. Being present in the moment, standing in awe of the reality and truth of what our Savior's birth actually means to us. Reflecting on how deep and wide our Father's great love is for us, that the God of the universe would humble Himself to become like His creation, all in an effort to rescue us and restore us to perfect relationship with Him. That is the magic of Christmas. That is something to be thankful for.

Finally, that brings us to New Years. A time of renewal and fresh starts. A time where we set goals for ourselves and our lives on how we will make the future better or brighter. Whether you're a die-hard resolutioner or not, I think we all have a sense of rejuvenation in our spirits when the calendar changes. And why shouldn't we? Reflecting on all the previous year held is eye-opening and then anticipating what the next trip around the sun will hold is exciting. Can you imagine though how refreshing that feeling would be if we had just completed a month of intentional gratitude and reflection? How might our perspective on the new year change if we spent November and December focused less on ourselves and more on Jesus? "New Year, new you" might take on a much deeper meaning. 

You can judge all you want, those of you that are vehemently opposed to any form of pre-Thanksgiving Christmas celebration. Feel free to drive your heels in the ground in your determination to keep Thanksgiving separate from Christmas. As for me and my household, we will eat our turkey while listening to O Holy Night, looking at our lit up little tree with gratitude for the true Light of the world who came as the greatest gift ever.

"For to use a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

(Isaiah 9:6...written over 600 years before the birth of Jesus)

(Photo cred: Toa Heftiba)