Merry "Christ"mas

As December 25 approaches, and we race around to get our last minute shopping finished, and we try to finish wrapping our 6,000 gifts, it is easy to forget why we are doing all of this. I guess I have to concede that, for a lot of people, this is why we do it. Many may have succumbed to the commercialization of Christmas, and the annual gift swapping has become for them the alpha and the omega, so to speak.

It seems a shame, though, that we get caught up in all of the hype and forget to take even a moment to reflect on the real message of Christmas. Of course, we are celebrating the birth of Christ. Even for relatively active and practicing Christians, though, it is easy to miss this message in all of the holly and mistletoe. But it is important to think about it, at least for a minute. This isn't just an overhyped birthday party. This is a conscious decision by God to take on the burden of flesh to become human and to bear all of the indignities that come with it. This is a decision to become man with the intent from the outset to make the ultimate sacrifice. This is the first day in a life of 33 or so years, the sole purpose of which was to make it possible for us humans to be saved. It is a gift beyond value. You can't get it on ebay or in the LL Bean catalogue. It won't be wrapped up in a box with a ribbon or stuffed in your stocking. But it is the gift for which we should be the most thankful on Christmas day and every day thereafter.

So, how do you give thanks? It is so easy that it is almost sad that we, as Christians, have failed to do it with any consistency. Give thanks by showing compassion to somebody. Give thanks by forgiving someone even if it is easier to be mad at them (and even if you think you have every right to still be mad). Give thanks by being nice to someone who won't be nice to you. Give thanks by doing something nice just for the heck of it. Give thanks by standing up for somebody that can't stand up for themselves. Whatever you do, just make sure that you give thanks.

I've found that people (myself included) will often wait until someone else makes the first move. Why should I decide to be the "bigger" person? The person that slighted me should go first. Why should I be the one to do it? Well, for one, because on Christmas day we realize that someone else has already made the first move. God chose not to wait for me to earn the gift of his son before giving that gift to me. And for that, I will give thanks.

Merry Christmas!