The "Christmas Season"

Luke 3:4: The “Christmas Season”

Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.

When I was a kid, there was nothing more exciting than the day after Thanksgiving. My mom would have us climb the attic stairs to retrieve our Christmas decorations. Our house, then, would be filled with decorating and preparing for that wonderful day of the year, Christmas. The hi-fi stereo in our dining room, would croon the Christmas tunes of Elvis, Lawrence Welk, The Partridge Family, Andy Williams, and Johnny Mathis. The air smelled of warmth and sugar. The excitement of the Christmas season was electric. As an adult, however, pre-Christmas days bring a sense of financial dread.

Every year around November, we begin the maddening march to spend mountains of money on gifts. By the time December rolls around, our finances are decimated. Though we vow to be frugal in our gifting game plan, the reality is the opposite: We overspend. And in that economic squeeze, that race to get “the right gift,” we lose sight of the most important gift we have -- God’s love.

The season of Advent is too often obscured by the craziness of pre-Christmas spending. But in the midst of the madness, if we pause and listen closely to our hearts, we are reminded of the greatest gift ever. God, in his self-emptying love, became one of us in the womb of a poor Hebrew virgin, Mary. God chose to be born a vulnerable human, to take on the temptations of sin, to the feel the pain of loss and abandonment, to give his life so that we could live. What we celebrate in Advent is not the mentality of “I can’t wait until this is over.” Advent is, instead, a time to anticipate and meditate and reflect on the greatest gift of love ever given to the world, the birth of Jesus Christ, God who became man to demonstrate true self-giving love and to save us from our sins.

If you are like me, the second week in December can be distracting with spending, wrapping, and readying. However, we have the choice to look toward the manger, to remember Gabriel’s words to Mary, to recall Mary’s “yes,” to remember Joseph’s choice of Mary and Jesus over himself, to remember our awesome God who loves us beyond our comprehension. Advent is a beautiful time to meditate on our God who is always with us.  

O merciful Father, we thank you for loving us with the great gift of your Son, Jesus Christ. Please let us focus on your love rather than the business and busyness of the world. Guide us, dear God, in your love always so that we, too, can reflect that love to all we encounter.

Have a blessed Advent!

Stan