I Love Christmas...Flaws and All

Since my last three Christmas posts have been relatively negative, I want to make positive one. After all Christmas is the most joyous season. Even though I believe the flaws in life need to be voices, the blessings need to be cherished. So I wanted to make an outline of all the reasons I love Christmas.

1.       The classics

i)       The movies and the happiness they bring 

ii)    The decorations

(1)   The tree and ornaments 

(2)  Stockings

(3)  Poinsettias

(4)  Manger Scenes  

iii)  The fires

iv)   The crazy shopping

v)     Wrapping gifts  

vi)   The Christmas Songs

(1)   Hark the Herald Angles Sing

(2)  Silent Night

(3)  The First Noel

(4)  Come All Ye Faithful

(5)  Away in A manger

(6)  Do You Hear What I Hear

(7)  Little Drummer Boy

(8) Mary Did You Know

(9)  O Holy Night

vii)Jesus’s Birthday

2.      It is the season of giving

i)       The Salvation Army Bell

ii)    The charity fundraisers at my school

(1)   For Kids with Cancer

(2)  Gifts for underprivileged kids

iii)  The charities everywhere

iv)   Compassion everywhere

v)     Buying gifts for the ones you love

vi)   Putting a lot of thought into the gifts for your loved ones

vii)The amazing feeling you get when you find the perfect gift

viii)          My parents willingness to give so much

ix)   The love behind every gift they give   

x)     God’s first and most precious Christmas gift

3.      Love is impossible not to see

i)       People are unusually kind to one another

ii)    Entertainment romanticizes this love

iii)  You have a heightened sense of love for the people you are with

4.      Being with the ones you love most dearly

i)       The Christmas Eve party we have at our house every year

ii)    The two fantastic families we spend Christmas Eve with every year. There is much laughter and happiness.

iii)  Going to visit my extended family

iv)   Having a Christmas Party with my friends who are so great

v)     Spending Christmas day with my wonderful, fun, funny, kind, and loving family.

5.      So much Joy. It is so hard to make yourself sad on this glorious day and season.

6.      It is a month long birthday party for Jesus

               

I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas :)  

A True Christmas Song

            In my opinion a melody labeled as a Christmas Song is like a movie winning an Academy Award. There isn’t any higher honor. However just as my praise of Christmas songs isn’t universally perceived, my definition of a Christmas Song differs from the common consensus.

            We turn the radio station on and our ears are trapped by the annoying noise called “Frosty the Snowman” and “Jingle Bells”. These are the annoying non-religious jingles that get old after the first time heard. They are the rejects from the Oscars. These poorly produced tunes so desperately want to be invited. They sneak in to the ceremony only to be “escorted” out before any of their shallow notes can even set foot on the glorious red carpet. I know this is a matter of opinion, but I am sorry they are just so horrible. Yes their tune can be catchy for a half a second, but their words lack the pure holy purpose. To me the headache inducing noise is merely a holiday song. They are unworthy of beholding the honorable title of a Christmas Song. A true Christmas Song is a rich and pure melody that glorifies Christ’s entrance into our suffering world. “Hark the Herold Angels Sing” beats “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” every single time. “Mary Did You Know” doesn’t even have to attempt to defeat the weak “Jingle Bell Rock”.  The much revered “All I want for Christmas is You” will never win when it is up against the passionate and beautiful “O Holy Night”.

            These holiday songs aren't just annoying. They are evil. Their purpose is to sabotage God’s first and perfect Christmas gift. They are an excuse for not worshiping the precious present. They are a distraction from the original meaning of this O so Holy Night. “It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth” 

I Hate Santa

            I have to announce my unpopular but honest opinion. I can’t contain the brutal truth anymore. Every moment it lingers the more damage it does. I hate Santa Clause.

            That imaginary present bearing man is the only “person” I hate in this world. He undeniably stole Jesus’s spot light! Christmas is supposed to be the day the single starlight shines on beautiful baby Jesus, but now it is Santa’s Christmas lights that make that holy glow hard to see. The glitter, the pitiful materials, the obvious superficial beauty makes Santa so easy to love and Jesus so easy to forget.

            Santa is a distraction from the holiness of the season. But I am one of those who easily becomes distracted by him. Blinded by the riches Jesus warned us against. The Hollow earthly treasures. I often cannot see the light. The riches that are worthless in the Kingdom Jesus invited us too. An invite I have taken for granted.

            I have to announce my unpopular by honest opinion. I can’t contain the brutal truth anymore. Every moment it lingers the more damage it does. What I hate most about Santa Claus is that I love him. 

The First Christmas Gift

Jesus, born away in a manger, couldn’t be more separated from the Christmas Season. His birth, His past, His existence, His life, His sacrifice, His risen spirt, His humble origins are supposed to be the center. The center of Christmas. Now the tree and the presents it protects are the center. Santa replaces the nativity scene. Elf on the shelf triumphs advent. The supposed holy season is forgotten. Thrown to the side like a tree after Christmas. Jesus’s beginnings of his gracious presence in this world has infinitely greater value than the material gifts given and received. Giving is beautiful, but when the glitter of the gifts blinds us from the love behind them, they are worthless. Gifts shouldn’t be judged on their worldly value but rather on the love woven into them. We have forgotten the love that is the foundation of the first Christmas gift. A love behind every gift ever given on earth. The love of God. The expensive wrapping paper, the outrageous bows, and the bright boxes have never held a gift so dear, as the manger did on Christmas Day.