In many people's opinion, the day after Halloween officially ushers in the Christmas season. I know some of you are firm believers in waiting until after Thanksgiving to begin listening to holiday music and enjoy Christmas cookies, but you can't help but notice the slow takeover of Christmas commercials on the television and radio, as well as the onslaught of store sales offering early Black Friday specials this year.
My mother instilled in me a genuine love for the Christmas season, and anyone who has ever been to her house the first weekend of October knows the joy of eating the first Christmas cookies of the year (she refrains from decorating completely until the day after Thanksgiving, however, so give her some credit). Mom always talked about the joy of the Christmas season, and I always think of a line from one of my favorite movies, Home Alone: "This is Christmas- the season of perpetual hope."
Hope.
When we think of Christmas, do we think of hope? Do we ponder incarnation of God Himself? Do we contemplate that the Glory of Heaven was born in a manger and worshiped by wise men and shepherds? Do we remember the life He led and the death He endured for our sake? Do we rejoice in the knowledge that He is risen indeed, that Death is defeated and the battle won? Do we think of the hope the Lord has given to us?
Turn on your television, take a walk around your local mall, look at the people cramming purchases into their car, and you'll understand the answers to these questions are often a resounding No. But we can change that- we can change Christmas from the over-commercialized and consumer-driven mega production it is; we can allow it to become the season of perpetual hope once again. Check out last year's video from Advent Conspiracy and imagine (truly imagine) what Christmas would look like- for your family, for your neighborhood, for your city, for the world- if we imparted hope to those without hope this year.
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2 comments:
That was a great video (be prepared...I might just steal it!)
This year the only Christmas gifts we are doing is knitting squares in the name of each person on our list! (and we will buy Katarina a gift like normal) It has been so much fun to concentrate on what cute new finger puppet pattern we could find to make puppets to stick in our square package instead of pouring over sales papers and trying to figure out how to get a present for everyone (that they probably don't really want anyway!)
I always loved visiting your mom's house at Christmas time....not just because the cookies are wonderful-which they are....but just walking in the living room got me into the Christmas mood!
Tracie that is a great idea for Christmas gifts!!! We usually buy the nieces and nephews books, but for everyone else, we try to give them something meaningful- like a jewelry holder that helped an Iraqi refugee family :)
And yes, Mom's house at Christmas cannot help but get you in the Christmas mood!
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