Fractured Saints - never beyond mending - a christian blog for the broken ones

Lights please . . .

I think there’s something wrong with me.  Christmas is a week away, and yet I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to.  Don’t get me wrong, I am preparing my heart for celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, but something’s missing.  It seems that no matter how hard I try, I just can’t get angry whenever I hear phrase “Happy Holidays.”

Believe me, I tried.  I really did.  I spent hours watching Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, and listening to James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family,” but it just didn’t work.  In fact, whenever some one wishes me a happy holiday, I automatically smile and say, “Same to you.”

Yeah, I know!

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I don’t care about keeping Christ in Christmas.  Far from it!  I just think we have bigger things to worry about than the phrase “Happy Holidays.”  For starters, “Happy Holidays” really isn’t such a bad expression.  It’s basically a short way of saying “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Hanukah,” “Happy Kwanzaa,” and “Happy New Year” all at once.  There’s certainly nothing wrong with wishing everyone a happy holiday, whatever that holiday is, is there?

To me, the biggest problem we Christians have to face during the Christmas season is not the phrase “Happy Holidays,” but the increasing consumerism that’s taking over the meaning of Christmas.  On Sunday mornings during the Advent season we sing “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” preparing our hearts for our Savior’s birth.  By Sunday afternoon, however, we’re running around the mall ducking and dodging the other shoppers on our quest to grab the latest hot gift before they’re all sold out (or no longer on sale, whatever comes first).  At church we greet each other with “Peace be with you,” but at Target we grumble “Watch where you’re going!” to each other as our shopping carts nearly collide.  I don’t know about you, but I have a feeling this wasn’t what the angels had in mind when they sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

But then again maybe I just have my priorities mixed up.  Maybe the phrase “Happy Holidays” really is part of the radical Left’s socialist agenda to destroy Christianity, or something like that.  Either way, have a very merry Christmas . . . or a happy holiday.

I’m man enough to admit that I still get a little choked up at the end of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” It’s just as relevant today as it was 40 years ago.

Like many of us, Charlie Brown doesn’t understand what Christmas is about, since he sees so much commercialism surround the holiday. He tries to get in the spirit by directed the annual Christmas play, but no one will listen. Then he decides what they need is a Christmas tree. Unfortunately the only real tree Charlie Brown and Linus can find at the lot is a pathetic little stick with a few pine needles on it. But that doesn’t stop Charlie Brown, because he finally found something real. But then when he brings the little tree back to his friends, they all laugh at him. Once again Charlie Brown is confused about what Christmas is all about.

And then Linus speaks:

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’” That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

That’s when everything changes.

Advent is a time to remember that Christmas didn’t begin with a department store sale; it began with God coming down to earth as a baby, born in a stable, sleeping in a feeding trough. This year I hope to break from the consumerist holiday mindset, and really prepare my heart for the coming of Christ. And I hope you will join me.