Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The War on Christmas

It seems to be "That Time of Year" again; the time of year when Madison Avenue tries to jump-start our desire to feel all warm and cuddly toward our fellow human by telling us to buy our loved ones diamond necklaces from Kay, new cars from Lexus, or even to save money by making your purchases at Target; the time of year when the Salvation Army bell ringers gather outside stores; the time of year when family Christmas lists get passed around; and the time of year when right-wing conservatives like to shout out that there is a vast, evil conspiracy about eliminating Christmas with the more generic Holiday.

As Christians, we need to remember a couple of things:

1) Christmas does NOT begin the day after Thanksgiving, nor does it encompass the time period between Christmas Eve services and 1 p.m. Christmas Day. Christmas begins on December 25 and runs through January 5, culminating in the celebration of Epiphany on January 6.

2) Beginning Sunday, November 30, we will enter the New Year with the First Sunday of Advent. Advent is that time when we prepare for the coming of Christ, both that first time in the stable and the second time at some future date. We are not preparing to shop; we should be preparing to build relationships with him, those around us, and those nameless and faceless "others."

All that being said, maybe there should be a "War on Christmas" as we have come to know it, and maybe it should start here:




Have a Blessed Advent.

1 comments:

Lady Anne | 1:18 PM, November 04, 2010  

WOW!

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