How Do You Spend Christmas?
This is Christmas and it is so fleeting, or maybe Christmas is so diluted that there isn’t enough time to absorb the holiday in the time allotted for celebration. Perhaps there is plenty of time to celebrate and we are just not very good time managers.
I think most people are more prosperous now than they were years ago, which is good. Financial prosperity allows us more choices and more independence, which is something we all enjoy. Prosperity allows us more autonomy in our decisions and freedom from the influence of others. I think this is a blessing that is a good thing when it is used with kindness and responsibility.
The trouble with all of this prosperity is that we don’t know how to use it. Instead of finding a deep, sustaining way to use our prosperity, we look for distractions. We no longer search our souls for an answer but instead we search the internet. A few keystrokes later and any whimsical desire becomes the new “family Christmas tradition” and will take precedence over thoughtful celebration of the true meaning of Christmas.
I am a fan of prosperity, I truly enjoy the independence it offers. The thing about independence is that it comes with an equal amount of responsibility in how you use it. “To whom much is given, much is expected” is a paraphrase from the Bible. In this case, I would say all of that prosperity is not given as an excuse to make Christmas whatever we want it to mean for us. Indulging our secular selves only insulates us from the meaning of Christmas and the responsibility that it presents to us.
The responsibility is both in the use of prosperity, and the use of the free time it provides. I have heard the phrase “Christmas is for family.” It seems we focus on ourselves and our families all year long. I think Christmas should be a day for the birth of Jesus. A gathering of family is time well spent to celebrate the birth of Jesus however if we are just celebrating ourselves and our prosperity then it is just another day.
I am old enough to know that life is short. Even if you live to 100 years, your life is a blip on the timeline of earth. Jesus was born to replace that blip with life everlasting, it is a tremendous gift. It is the reason we give each other gifts today. We should consider the magnitude of this gift when we decide how much time we will use to offer our thanks.
I have often felt guilty after a family gathering. My guilt is because I feel like I didn’t spend enough time with the guest of honor. This life is a party-for all of its hardships and loss- it is a party.
Take time to spend it with the guest of honor, at least one day a year. Merry Christmas.
