The Holiday truth

We are all in need of more truth these days.  Right?   Doesn’t it seem that each year that goes by we have  blurred the line between what is the truth and what are lies?   We see it in politics ALL.THE.TIME.  In fact we like to call lies in softer terms like ‘untruths’ or little fibs now (or tweets!), like there is a difference.   And, some lies are said to be acceptable if it is for the greater good.  So, it is okay to lie.

I think that is why I have a hard time with this time of year when it rolls around on the calendar.

Hear me out.     These thoughts rattle around in my brain and it is why I struggle during the holiday season.  Each year.

What is the truth about Christmas?     What do we tell our children?

When did Christmas become something else than the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ?    Because it has changed – big time.  Just ask the generation before mine.   Has the truth of Christmas morphed into something totally different?

I remember as a kid in our home knowing and celebrating the truth of Christmas.   We put up a tree, because it was a symbol of life and the lights on it were bright like the star leading the wise men.  The tree topper was a big star or an angel.  We put candles in the windows to ‘light the way’ and to show we celebrated Christmas.

We had a nativity set on our table to remind us of the way Christmas started… in a small stable in Bethlehem.

We gave token gifts reminding us that we are loved.  We learned in Sunday School that the magi brought the baby Jesus gifts.

Now, yes, I know, I was born and raised in a Christian home.  My dad was a pastor so everything we did on Christmas Eve and Day centered around our church service times.   I went each year to a candlelight service…. and sang “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World.”  I sang in the junior choir.  I participated in a Christmas play at church.     Maybe I didn’t understand it all as a kid but I was given the foundation.  It became my definition of Christmas.

And, hold on – because yes, it’s true – my parents never emphasized Santa Claus.  And, believe it or not, I never felt like I missed out.  I was never told about a guy coming down the chimney and secretly leaving presents under the tree.   As I got older I never felt that I was fooled by it, and then told it was a fabrication (lie.)   I knew my parents gave us gifts because they loved us.  I even remember seeing bags ‘hidden’ high up in my parents’ closet – and I knew there were Christmas presents inside them.    I had hoped they had seen the toys I had circled in the Sears “Wish Book”.

Fast forward to today’s Christmas.     People are decorating before the Advent season has even started – which starts 4 Sundays before December 25th. As a kid we had an “Advent Calendar” and opened another little door on it each day as we counted down the days.   By the way, here’s a holiday truth: yes, there are 12 days of Christmas!   But, did you know that the first day starts on December 25th and ends on January 6th?    Most people today decorate so early that by December 26th they are ready to take down the tree.

Today’s Christmas is all about commercialism.   Stores decorating, with lots of glitz and over-the-top secular stuff.  Big Santas,  penguins,  snowflakes, and such.    It is a hectic time of year.  People get stressed (including me.)  Expectations are high.  And that means disappointments are close by.   Nothing is ‘peaceful.’   Quiet.

EVERYBODY celebrates Christmas now.   It doesn’t matter if you believe in Jesus Christ or not.   The holiday truth isn’t the priority anymore.

So, that is why I sometimes grumble at this time of year.  It is why I write this post.   I hurt inside knowing that people say they are celebrating Christmas but don’t even think about “Christ” in it.

I pledge to myself each holiday season to focus on the truth.  I tell myself to think about the real Christmas…   and I try to do the things leading up to it that helps bring me there.   Church and music activities.

Do you think I’m a fuddy duddy?     Do you think I’m just getting old and set in my ways?    Perhaps.

But, let me leave this challenge to you for this Christmas season:  make it more truthful.   Find a way to connect back with the celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus Christ.   At least for part of it.   Stop by a live nativity.  Attend Advent services.  Read the Christmas story from Luke on Christmas Eve.

Put Christ back in Christmas.   He is the truth.