Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, 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, goodwill toward men!” Luke 2:8-14 (NKJV)
Spirit of Christmas
Recently, I encountered several friends who said sheepishly, “I just don’t have the Spirit of Christmas this year.” They blame the weather, “Too hot,” or the crowds, “Too much grumpiness” or the materialism of the season, “Too many ads on television promoting credit cards and stuff.” They say, “I don’t feel like” (fill in the blanks), “getting out my Christmas decorations”, “wearing a Christmas outfit”, “cooking Christmas cookies”, “singing carols,” “wrapping presents”, “having family over”, “going to church” or any other of the myriad obligations that we attach to Christmas. I don’t blame them for not feeling the Christmas Spirit if that is how they are gauging the success of the holiday. When we equate Christmas to a frantic, heart racing rush over in record time, we set ourselves up for disappointment. What I want to say to them is, “Yes, you do have the Spirit of Christmas! The Spirit of Christmas lives in your heart all year long!” The problem comes when we measure our “Spirit” by the world’s standards. Decorations, music, gifts, parties, lights, food, and even people, don’t make the Spirit of Christmas. Those things are only temporary. What we need to remember is that the living breath of God resides in us without regard to calendar or circumstances. It does not matter if it is snowing or sunny. Or if you are surrounded by all of your favorite family and friends and even that crazy uncle you usually ignore. You don’t have to be merry, rich, healthy, or wise to understand the importance of the season. You can have the Spirit of Christmas in a hospital room, in the jungles of Africa, in the midst of devastation like the coast of the Philippines. You can have the Spirit of Christmas when you are all alone in your bed, scared and afraid, when you are waiting in line at the shopping mall or cooking that casserole that you hate, but that everyone else adores. You don’t need a huge, beautiful Cathedral with an angelic choir singing to make you feel the Spirit of Christmas. That’s your choice, because the Spirit of Christmas is always with you. You just have to unleash it from all the trappings of Christmas that we surround it with. Like a tangled string of lights, we complicate Christmas. But, it is really simple. No matter what your emotions, give thanks for the gift of life given to you by the baby born in humble circumstances who grew up to be your Savior! Rejoice that a peace unlike anything this world can offer is yours! Christmas is just a day, but Christ is eternal. The King of Kings loves you and wants a relationship with you. Don’t worry about what surrounds you or how you feel. With the angels, shout “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” You can do that no matter where you are or what you are doing. Or what other are doing around you!
This year has definitely felt different. I thought that maybe the Christmas Spirit had bypassed me as well, but I realized that I have grown into a different expression of Christmas. As you said, the Spirit is in me all year long!
This year, I have taken on several tasks to take care of other people. "Love one another" has been the Spirit in action for me all year.
I've been teaching Children's Church and helping out with our youth program. I've been feeding hungry college students twice a month. I told my husband that we definitely should take in our granddaughter for however long she needed us (bad family problems there), even if it meant sleeping on the couch indefinitely so that she could have her own space.
In my mind, these are all small things, but they keep the spirit of God front and center and help other people in various ways.
I didn't go crazy decorating. We put our tree up a couple of days before Christmas and there are lights and exactly 5 ornaments on it.
I didn't go crazy shopping. In fact, there was no last minute rush as I've been gathering gifts all year. All I had to do was wrap them. Work was the craziest I got – and cleaning the house after all the pageant costume-making because we had the entire family coming to my house for lunch.
The Christmas Spirit was here, but in a different guise – a more relaxed, less frantic form that stays around all year.
Amen.