The Heart of Christmas

Yesterday, I felt like a breath of fresh air swept through my stale heart and gave it new vitality. For the past several weeks, I had been feeling a little confused as to how to go about celebrating Christmas the "right" way. Now that Joey and I have a family of our own, little as it may be, I am even more aware of the folly that surrounds us during Christmas, how somewhere along the line the real reason for Christmas was hijacked by folks who saw an opportunity to make a dime. And now, all around me, I see kids with a sense of entitlement, kids who throw fits over getting the biggest, best, newest thing the world has to offer.  I'm left wondering what we will do to celebrate it, how we'll be able to raise kids without this sort of attitude, and whether we'll be able to somehow honor Christ in the midst of it all.

I have seen several blog posts discussing exactly this idea lately, and it seems that many folks are determined to set things right in their homes and basically shun anything remotely "of the world." But as I read the articles, I started feeling like a loser of a mom because not only was I exited for Addie to get to experience Christmas for real for the first time, but I also felt like a million people out there in blog land were somehow judging me for welcoming Christmastime with a fire burning the fire place and scented candles filling the room with the sweet smell of Christmas while Joey and I decorated our tree as "It's a Wonderful Life" was playing in the background.

But yesterday, it was as though our Pastor's message let me off the worry hook and gave me permission to celebrate with all the merriment that the season has to offer. He brought a bit of this merriment I'm talking about into  the service because he said that it is, after all,"the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." He showed a clip of his favorite rendition of this very song, a rendition done by none other than the Muppets. It was easy to see that Pastor was in a festive mood, thoroughly enjoying celebrating the season, but as soon as the music died down and the congregation began to settle in for the sermon, he posed this question (as if he instinctively knew there was someone in the back row sitting next to Joey and I who were vocally questioning his judgement): He asked, "So why do we have things like this at church?" He then explained, "The reason we do stuff like that around here is to offend as many religious spirits as possible. Don't get me wrong -- we're a deeply spiritual church. We're just not very religious." He went on to give a powerful message about how at the heart of Christmas is a celebration of the most wonderful gift that was ever given to humanity--the gift of the saving grace found in the Christ-child. Since we're celebrating that this season, shouldn't we be merry, be festive, and have a wonderful Christmastime?

Perhaps that's the distinction I'm trying to make in my own life as I think about what sorts of things to cut out of as well as include in our Christmas celebrations, the difference between what's religious and what's spiritual. If I don't put up a Christmas tree, if I refuse to sing Jingle Bells, if I never give another gift at Christmas -- does that make me any more spiritual than if I do? Maybe. Or maybe I would be doing it out of a religious heart, not a spiritual heart. I think in the end it comes down to the condition and motivation of my heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 says this:

The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. 

People judge by outward appearance, 

but the Lord looks at the heart.

(The Message)

I think this verse holds the answer for how to celebrate Christmas, how to weigh what's important versus what's not important, and how to make what could otherwise seem trivial carry deep significance.  So, after I thought long and hard about all this today, I made a decision. Instead of feeling guilty for celebrating the way I do, instead of being overly concerned with what people might think of my choices, and instead of feeling the push to buy more, do more, or be more during these last few days before the 25th, I'm going to focus instead on the condition of my heart, my motivations for my actions, and most importantly, on the greatest Gift anyone has ever been given. And I suspect I'm going to have an awful lot of fun doing so.

I sincerely hope you will join me.