Same Thoughts

I am about to repost something that I wrote three years ago. However, my feelings haven't changed at all. You always discover things you wish you hadn't when it is the Saturday before Christmas.

Anyway, here is the original post, in its entirety.


Well, for those of you that read my last post, you would know that I had something else to talk about, but I didn't right then. I made that decision for space and time sake. Now, I have a whole new entry, and plenty of room for what I wanted to say.

I had mentioned that I had an interesting time on Saturday. Dad and I were out and about in the Treasure Valley, finishing up the little bit of Christmas shopping I had to do. Now, since I was partly getting stuff for Mom, I couldn't go with her; it had to be Dad time. (Not that that is a bad thing! I love my dad!) Anyway, I did get mostly everything, but that's not what I wanted to talk about.

Does anyone get the feeling that Christmas is no longer about the Lord and His Coming to earth in the form of a baby? I mean, you can that impression as you look at people's houses. You see reindeer and Santa and lots of lights. You might see a Nativity once in a blue moon, yet it could be in a house with Santa. It's all backwards to me. Sure, my family every now and then watches Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and we laugh. But, that's not what Christmas is all about. However, I believe if an alien dropped in from outer space and you asked what the holiday was about, I don't think he would say Jesus.

Well, I was really confronted with this fact on Saturday. You watch people go to and fro, waiting in line with several high-ticket items. Lines are sooo long, and usually the people in them are grumpy, rude, or just checking things off their list. No one says, "Merry Christmas. Have a great day." Cars push and shove, not letting people get in traffic or make a turn. All of these things I had to deal with in one from or another. It was sad, really. I tried to spread cheer into people's hearts, but by the end of the day, I was emotionally wiped. I had had enough of dealing with the crowds and the materialistic society in which I live.

If you are familiar with the Steven Curtis Chapman song, "Christmas is All in the Heart," you know that the bridge goes: "No it's not in the snow that may or may not fall, and it's not in the gifts beneath the tree. It's in the love Heaven gave that night our Savior came, and that same love can still be found wherever you are....." Well, I don't think that really holds true, despite the fact that I wish it did. I love Christmas, and all that it is supposed to stand for. Yet, it really is getting a distorted view; I don't like it. I guess you could call me a little bit like Charlie Brown, except that I know what Christmas is all about. It's how to deal with all the other "stuff" that I am trying to figure out.

"Now there were in the same country, shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shown around them, and they were greatly afraid. The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you great tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For their is born to you, this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Suddenly, there was the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men." ~Luke 2:8-14

"That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."-Linus