“There
must be something wrong with me, Linus,” Charlie Brown says to his friend in
the classic program “A Charlie Brown
Christmas”, “Christmas is coming, but I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel. I just don’t understand Christmas, I guess.” If I were a betting man (and I’m not), I’d
wager that many, in the quietness of their hearts, can resonate with Charlie. Or perhaps you relate with Lois Lane; in a
Christmas episode of the TV show “Lois
and Clark” she said, “For once, I’d like to feel Christmas. Discover it.
Unwrap it and be surprised by how wonderful it is; instead of having it
relentlessly shoved in my face like half-off coupons at a swap meet.”
The
truth of the matter is Christmas is wonderful.
But the essence of Christmas – what makes it so amazing – has been buried
under an avalanche of added cultural layers that can easily depress and confuse
us. For example, consider the film “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. A reindeer is ostracized by his peers because
of his abnormal feature of having a red nose.
But when a foggy Christmas Eve hits, Santa Claus puts Rudolph in the
front of his sleigh to let his red nose act as a beacon to lead them through
the fog. Rudolph is cheered as a
hero. This is a good movie. The underdog triumphs over adversity. But, the reality is, this film has nothing to
do with the essence of Christmas. One
has to keep digging.
Another
factor of this topic is the gift giving element. We run at mach speed to find the best gift
for all of our family, friends, and everyone else on our list. Is it wrong to do this? Certainly not. It’s good to give. But this hustle and bustle thoroughly
exhausts us (and probably puts us into credit card debt too); worst of all,
this tradition is only a shadow of why we celebrate this season in the first
place.
Further,
there is pain in many hearts during the Christmas season. I know as surely as I know my own name that
someone is reading this and you are facing this Christmas without your parent,
spouse, sibling, or best friend. This
person passed away and now you are walking around with immense pain in your
heart; a pain that you almost feel guilty to bring up due to the expectation that
you are supposed to be having “a holly jolly Christmas” because “it’s the best time
of the year”. I know all about this
one. This is my third Christmas season
without my dad since he passed away, and the pain can still be visceral and
intense. I love Christmas, but his
absence makes December a much more difficult month.
So
what, then, is the conclusion to all this?
Why do we celebrate Christmas?
The sad truth is many celebrate it because that’s just what they have
always done since childhood. But there
is so more to Christmas. As a matter of
fact, my dad once wrote about this in one of his songs. Perhaps one day I will share the lyrics, but
for today, it’s sufficient to state that Dad focused on how Christmas has many
fun elements (Christmas lights, parties, Santa Claus, mistletoe, gifts under
the tree, etc.), but they are not what Christmas is about;
Christmas is, in his words, “a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus.”
Someone
is thinking, “OK. I can concede that.
But why does Jesus’ birth have any relevance to my life today?” That is the question that I want tackle in
the next blog. But let me leave you with
this: it has been my prayer that you would, as Lois Lane put it, unwrap Christmas
and see just how wonderful it truly is.
Not because of Santa, or elves, Rudolph, or Frosty the Snowman, but
because of Jesus Christ’s arrival into this world.
To
be continued!
Kevin
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