Christmas

Today is Christmas. It is a rare occurrence; temperatures are milder than usual. On our way home from our annual Christmas Eve gathering, I found myself in deep thought. Christmas is not my favorite holiday. I have not been writing as much as I initially was. I have instead been reading the bible. I do not know if I have ever read the bible before. I am not reading it in hopes of a ticket to heaven. I am reading it so that I know exactly what and how to teach SB to know and love Jesus. From my previous writings, you can probably imagine I have questions. It takes a lot of time and conscious effort to understand. No, you do not have to believe the same things that I believe in order to get something out of my writings. Over the course of the last few months, I have understood that Christmas is a pagan holiday. I have searched the bible to find the actual date of the birth of Jesus. I have even asked the smartest person that I know, google does not even know. The best guess is spring or fall as shepherds were in the fields tending to flocks of sheep. Christmas is not my favorite because Christmas is so commercialized. It is all about gift giving and receiving. That tends to put a sour taste in my mouth. I felt as if it took away from the true meaning of Christmas. Last night, I realized I am missing the true meaning of Christmas.

We attended Christmas Eve service at church. Hank was typical Hank, steady trying to tell me something. Smic was same ol smic. Chicken, formally known as no, did not complain about sitting beside me this time. Hank automatically blames me when people start laughing. Someone was snoring a few pews behind us. I am so easily distracted, of course I laughed. I am not sure if Karen smacked me or if it was rubber, formally known as the cackler. Rubber had on a necklace of bells that jingled every time she moved, which was a continuous jingle. She cannot sit still to save her life. She said she was not the one that smacked me, however she for sure poked me. Hank threatened that I would have to sit beside him if I did not straighten up. I do not even know what I was doing wrong. It was not a loud laugh when I laughed at the snoring. Onto the point.

I will not be able to recite exactly what the sermon was about, however there was a portion that caught my attention. If God knew we needed material solutions, he would have sent people to help us in those areas. God however sent a savior. It reminded me of a saying, if you fish for a man, he can eat today, (not a solution to a problem, but a Band-Aid), if you teach the man how to fish, he can eat forever, (a solution). If God had sent anyone other than a savior, it would only have been a band-aid. He instead sent a solution. The only requirement is that we receive Jesus Christ as our savior.

As we were driving home in the fog, I was reminded of a song from the 90’s. It was a song that Garth Brooks sang. I had to ask faithful old google what it was. The name of the song is Belleau Wood, thanks google. Anyway, it was based off of a truce during WWI. 1914 to be exact. History tells that some of the countries involved in the war during this time attempted to have an official cease fire during the holiday season. The leaders were unable to agree on a truce. Soldiers on both sides decided to make their own truce.  I believe it was a German solider that began to sing Silent Night. Soldiers did not need to understand the language in order to recognize the song. Per the song, soldiers on both sides began to sing the iconic Christmas song. Weapons were laid down, differences set aside. The truce, however, was only temporary, as the war continued on.

Soldiers stopped fighting to recognize what I called a pagan holiday at the beginning of this writing. Although that may actually be what it is, after all, biblically it is for certain not the day of birth for Jesus. Belleau Wood reminded me that it is a celebration of Jesus, the savior sent to save the human race. It is a time to gather with loved ones, some you may only see a few times a year, and enjoy their company. Christmas is only as commercialized as we allow it to be. Those soldiers did not allow people who were sitting in their nice, warm, comfortable homes to dictate whether or not they, for a fleeting moment, too may celebrate Jesus Christ our Savoir as well as the company of complete strangers.

The message is this; we do not have to follow the path that is set in front of us. We have the ability to choose our own path. Maybe the path you choose will not be the most popular choice. All that matters is that the choice you make, you can live with it. Spread peace, joy and unconditional love. Try not to focus so much on the material things in life. Instead focus building a legacy. Not one filled with wealth, or unimportant things, instead filled with how you treated others, as well as yourself. We become so consumed with the material aspects of our lives that we completely overlook the more spiritual aspects.

I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas! Toodle-loo