I have noticed within the last few years that this time of the year has been the time of the year where I begin to regret those things that I should have done, but did not do, or the things that I should not have done, but did anyway. I also think of everything that I am grateful for. I know I am not the only one that does this, but this year it seemed different. I normally keep my opinions about how commercialized I think Christmas is, but this year, it seemed that not only did I give my opinions about how commercialized I think Christmas is, but it seems that I have boycotted Christmas and everything of the sort from the get go. The day after Thanksgiving, the last thing I wanted to hear was Christmas music, a week later, I felt the same way, almost a month later, not as bad, but I think I have only listen to a total of 30 minutes of Christmas music, most of that being from the Christmas production at my church.
I have been called Scrooge, which in my defense I have never watched “A Christmas Carol” so I did not necessarily know why I was being called an old guy from a Christmas movie that I only heard about, never seen. It seems that this year, I just wanted Christmas to just come and go. When people asked, “Why?” I would simply state, “The sooner Christmas is over, the sooner I could be surfing a wave and visiting family in Hawaii.” And as much as that is true, that was only half the reason why I wanted it. The other half is, to be completely candid, because I want the fake happiness of everyone's “It's Christmas time, so we are obligated to be happy, and count our blessings” mentality and attitude of the season to go. I am not saying that I have never done it, but I guess I was just done pretending. In the past, Christmas has just been another day for me and my family. I did a lot of sleeping. Every Christmas seems to be different for me. So I guess a little part of me is a Christmas Scrooge.
When it comes to skits, monologues, etc, that are pretty emotional, that you need a box of tissues for, I typically am that person who does not cry. Well, during my church's Christmas production this year, there was a monologue in particular that made me cry. The monologue was called, “A Journal of a Mad Christmas Mama.” It was done by the female youth leader that I serve with and her six year old son. After the humor of it all, there was a line that I could not hold back my tears to. The kid had chipped the baby Jesus in the manger scene, and it meant a lot to his mom. So in a letter to Santa, he said, “If it's alright with you, could I trade my batman hovercraft with the glow in the dark headlights for a new baby Jesus? Then Mom could have a happy Christmas. Thank you!" It made me realize that this time of the year is so much more than all of the commercialized stuff that we see. I guess I realized it, but never thought about it like that before.
I will quote one Christmas song, from Relient K, it states, “I celebrate the day that You were born to die, so I could one day pray for You to save my life.” After hearing that line from the monologue and knowing that this kid really would ask for that. Looking at the selflessness of a child who would give up something he really wanted it made me think about how that why we celebrate Christmas because God's only begotten Son was selfless enough to give up 33 years of His life to give His life so that one day, we will be up in Heaven with Him, spending eternity together. And if you think about it God is our Father, so that makes Jesus our Big Brother. So that means our Big Brother was selfless enough to give up His life.
So do I really hate Christmas? No. Do I really not like Christmas? Not necessarily. I love the reason why the church celebrates Christmas. But the reality of it all, the only part where the Christmas Scrooge is in me, is when we spend a month focused on some fat guy who supposedly goes around the world in one night giving gifts to all the children. That is not bad, but it is not reality either. Another part of where the Christmas Scrooge is in me is when the only time people volunteer is at food banks, soup kitchens, etc, is around the holidays, where are they the rest of the time? I have volunteered at a food bank before, but it was in the middle of May and it had nothing to do with clearing my conscience about anything. It was all out of the heart.
The Scrooge in me will slowly subside, my opinions will slowly cease, that I can promise. But my heart and my giving will be there year around. That is what is in store for 2012 – a change of heart and a different mindset.
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