I had intended to post a few days ago, but I've had a lot weighing on my mind in regards to this post, and I just didn't have a coherent message to relate. I knew I wanted to write something about Advent- the special time when we await the "advent" or coming of the day in which we celebrate the birth of Jesus- but I just didn't know exactly how to say what I really feel without sounding like the Mexican-American "Grinchita" Who Stole Christmas.
I generally have mixed feelings when the Christmas season rolls around in late October. On the one had I love the nostalgia; I love the snow; I love the ballet, the concerts, and the food (although, I'm not really sure you can call cookies and chocolate food in the truest sense of the word!); I love the lights. I think the lights have always been my favorite tradition of the holiday season... So what's not to love, right?
Well, let's see. Things I don't like:
~That feeling of coerced obligation to spend, spend, SPEND money I don't have on things people didn't know they wanted- or needed for that matter.
~The genuine sadness I feel when I witness millions of people every year celebrate a holiday they truly know nothing about.
~The envious green hue of disappointment my kid's faces take on when they inevitably feel entitled to WAY more things than I can afford.
And the list goes on. But not here. Because this post isn't about that.
As I was contemplating, I actually started to feel anxious. Questions and doubts swirled around my thoughts, and the worrying took over. I anxiously pondered the sins of the season-- overlooking the poor and the orphans, buying gifts made in sweat shops that exploit child labor, making a holiday about the birth of THE Redemption Story of humanity about materialism and greed... I decided to pray because my anxiety was making my stomach hurt. As I prayed, I had a thought.
This is why Jesus came.
Jesus came to redeem a sinful world from the grasp of its own self destruction. He came to make a way out of the envy, the greed, the materialism, the neglect, the overindulgence, the slavery, the evil, the meaningless pursuit of ourselves.
So, Jesus saves Christmas.
Truth is, I don't really know exactly how we at the Walls' house are gonna celebrate Jesus differently this year. But maybe that's it. We aren't celebrating the holidays, we're celebrating Jesus. We aren't observing festivals, feasts and traditions. We are remembering the life whose divinity changed the course of human history, worshipping the God who paved the lighted path to our salvation.
This year let's strip away whatever distracts and detracts from the best celebration we can make of one of the greatest events in the Redemption Story- Jesus' birth. And please, hear me clearly. I'm not telling you what it is that distracts and detracts, because I don't know what that is for you. I'm simply suggesting that we all strip away the excesses in our own lives until we can see HIM clearly.
Ladies, I pray that you all have a wonderful, heart-transforming Christmas season, and may Jesus be the center of it all!
Wow Eva, I can relate to much of what you wrote.
ReplyDeleteI was just listening to a song on the way home in which I was reminded that a baby was born to someday die so that much later I might pray to him to save my life.
This is the message I need to remember as we go forward this month.
Thanks for saying what I am feeling. It helps.
Lorilise
Amen Sista! Love this... Feeling the same way and wish I could spread this through my whole life, right now. I feel the churning in my stomach as I think about all the things I "have" to get done! Thanks for the reminder, again... ;)
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