The Christmas Season is upon us. Yes, I did say Christmas, not "Holiday", "Festive", "Winter", "Gift-giving", "Yuletide", or any of those other terms the mainstream media wants to call the time of year that Protestant Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, Our Savior. I have grown up to conclude that my mother raised me, and my siblings, to have a devoted opinion about what we strongly believe in and to stand unwavering even in the midst of criticism. One of those opinions is seated in the idea that Christmas is the recognition, celebration and reflection of the gift of the baby Jesus to the world as living payment for the sins of humans: a debt of sin we could never afford to pay. The second part of this belief is something I have probably developed on my own and hope my children will inherit. Christmas is not a fat guy in a red suit delivering gifts made by elves. It is not a "Happy Holiday"; it is a "Merry Christmas". Kids do not get a "Winter Break"; they get a "Christmas Break". Christmas is not just a time to cook the best food, buy the best gifts, wearing the best clothes, or deck the best halls. Christmas is a time for being your best person and allowing that best person to spill over into the new year ahead.
Mom taught us a second lesson but it was more of a lesson about giving. Our family was not one of those overly affectionate families who hugged and kissed on each other all the time but among ourselves we knew each other was loved. Anytime we had a meal, there was always enough for company, whether it be family or neighbor, expected or not. That hospitality is something I have made a point to pass on to my girls along with our family slogan: It's not all about you! This Christmas we all went to one single store on Black Friday. We visited The Guitar Center where we live and bought four new guitars for our family. That, for the most part, is our Christmas. We are going to all learn to play at some level with the hopes of having many happy hours of playing enjoyment and making oodles of memories while laughing and putting calluses on the ends of our fingers. We will get each other some other small, homemade gifts or gift cards for clothes and shoes later, but our family decided to give to people who wouldn't otherwise experience Christmas. We wanted to actually give the gifts of Christmas: Hope, Love, Joy and Peace. Our adult Sunday school class at our church will adopt a family who's young son has a childhood cancer. We will buy the mom, at her expressed need, a new bicycle to serve as a second form of transportation for simple errands and grocery shopping. We will help chaperon my 14 year old daughter's youth group as they shop all night to sponsor multiple needy families in our local city who, without their gifts and service, would not experience Christmas. We will help provide Christmas for a former patient who, because of debilitating injury, can not return to his job to provide Christmas gifts for his three young children. Christmas is not about gifts wrapped under a tree covered in tinsel and lights, Christmas is about giving Hope, Love, Joy and Peace to someone who might not have the privilege of experiencing it otherwise.
I'll close with a story about my sister, Mary, that adequately demonstrates what Mom taught us through her hospitality. She found out the week of Thanksgiving that a co-worker in her office, a single-mom with two kids and an ex-husband that doesn't meet his child support obligations, had one can of green beans to last them the holiday weekend. When Mary stated that just wouldn't suffice for a Thanksgiving meal, one of the other ladies in the office asked her what she was going to do. Knowing that her local grocery chain was giving a free turkey with the purchase of a ham, she replied, "I'm going to feed her." Mary rallied the other office staff, knowing none of the could "feed her" alone. She organized a team where each of them would buy a few extra items of the things they would buy for themselves, then provide money or gift cards for perishable items for her to purchase on her own. Together they were able to "feed her", body and soul. She was overwhelmed that people would care so much. Mary knew that one person would not be able to sustain the task of buying her everything she would need but she knew that an "army of God" bearing witness with a list of a few food items would be able to "feed a multitude".
Many times people of overwhelmed that others care so much; I am overwhelmed that people would think we care so little. Don't just have Christmas this year, give Christmas this year!
