There's a real problem with Christmas

Folks, there’s a problem with Christmas, and I’m not sure what we can do about it.

Is this problem defining what Christmas is all about? Maybe.

Yes, there is a religious aspect to Christmas. Christians celebrate the holiday as the birth of Jesus Christ, even though there’s little evidence outside of historical tradition that the event took place this time of year.

Pagans have celebrated this time of year as a time of rebirth in that the lowest part of winter is past and the days are growing longer again. The darkness is becoming less, something Christians have also grabbed on to.

Then there’s the secular aspect of Christmas. It’s a time of giving and receiving. It’s the high point of the sales year for many businesses. It’s a time of office parties, family celebrations — a time to make merry.

For charities, it’s the highlight of the giving calendar, a time when coffers that are almost empty the other 11 months hopefully get filled up.

This is all part of the problem of Christmas, and that is, we can’t really define what it is. At least anymore.

But I think there is a definition for the meaning of Christmas. It lies in the simple things in life.

Christmas is taking the long way home through your neighborhood just so you can enjoy the light displays of your neighbors. Christmas is beginning each day by opening that day’s segment on your Advent calendar to see what’s revealed inside.

Christmas is sitting in your living room admiring the lights of your tree, garland, wreath, soft glow of candles and the dancing shadows of your fireplace. Christmas is darting from your car to restore your neighbors lighted deer to its upright position after the wind has knocked it over.

Christmas is watching the joy on someone’s face when they open the gift you picked for them. Christmas is sipping hot chocolate (sugar free in my case) with my wife on a snowy afternoon.

Christmas is reflection before a Sunday service, a Christmas Eve service. Christmas is listening to your favorite music, even if it’s not seasonally-oriented.

Christmas is reading a favorite book, poem, Bible verse, something you don’t normally read but which carries new meaning each time. Christmas is waking up and finding a dachshund snuggled next to you.

Christmas is, or it should be, all about things that bring joy. Unfortunately, we often let this aspect get lost in all of the other things Christmas has become — frenzied shopping, over indulgence, taking offense at how you’re greeted, etc. ad nauseam.

There is indeed a war on Christmas, and it’s being waged by people who care nothing about what’s in your heart and have forgotten what should be in their own. It’s being waged for profit, economically and spiritually.

And that’s the problem with Christmas. We’ve let other people define its joy.

The joy of Christmas should be your joy. And it should be a joy that is built to last, not for 12 days, 21 days or even a month or two.

The problem with Christmas is that its joy doesn’t last all year long. But the good news about that, is there is something you can do about it.

Merry Christmas, and peace.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.