It is no secret that I LOVE Christmas. This season has always been the time of year that I look forward since I was younger than my kids are now. Yes at the time, the presents were the main attraction, but around the age my kids are now, those pre-teen years which are filled with emotions and hormone shifts no one can prepare you for, Christmas started to become less about the presents and more about the joy of seeing family and friends. It became less about material gain and more about gaining time with those who might not be here one more year.
It is so easy to fall into the craziness and business of this season. Shopping, cooking, cleaning, Christmas productions at our kids schools and churches, volunteering, and doing all those things that have crept into our world and have been shoved into a 90-120 day time period we call Christmas. Things that, in the era of social media and societal unrest have started to shove a wedge between Christians and so many others around the world. In this era of inflation, we have started to return to a place where those without means are judged be those with means.
That is NOT what Christmas should be about and in my pre-teen years, I was lucky enough to realize that truth through the tragedies that came with thise years.
The loss of family, a wildfire, and more helped me see that none of the things in the world really mattered.
And what matters isn’t the stuff we do, but the fellowship and time we spend with one another. Time with family, time with our churches, time with those around us who might follow other faithes or no faith at all.
J.Rhett Lively 