A bit of a ditty here as if I haven’t written, typed enough in the last two weeks for school however, I feel compelled to write something other than citations of academic journals and reading turn of the century theologians today. Plus, everything is covered in ice, the sky is a dreary gray and I have errands to run but procrastinating because simply put- I have that “now what” feeling after a whole semester of school. Christmas is coming and now I can deck the halls with some holly.
So, despite all the holly jolly of the season I am stating here that we are officially in the dog days of Christmas. Such anticipation hurls many of us into the new year with a big fat let down in January. Cold, frozen and more gray skies, bills come in, resolutions already broken and yet we have longer days and the hope of spring. For years when I lived in New York I loved December because the store windows, lights and atmosphere pumped with exciting anticipation. I tried to avoid going into Macy on a lunch hour however, but couldn’t resist seeing the amazing creative displays in the stores. My inner calendar while working in fashion was set to when new merchandise comes into the stores. This is how my brain still at times reverts. What I’ve noticed about myself in recent years is how my rhythm of life is so integrated to world that I’ve noticed needing constant awareness this is not how God intended my life to be. Christmas without all the anticipation and sparkle is very dreary and Hanukkah without the progression of light is just simply dark and boring but, I have become also aware that the same “blahzay” feeling every year comes over me in December. I think because yet again Christmas gets turned into a culture war quite too often and that we take some things way too seriously and yet on the other hand it feeds our culture of materialism so I often choose not to engage because it’s just “yuck”.
One child, who shall remain nameless here, a couple years ago said to my kids Santa wasn’t real and projected that it was Jesus’s birthday on Dec 25 quite adamantly. I didn’t have the heart to crush his view but thought how it’s okay for point out one aspect of truth with another “suggestive fact” that simply is not true. I also have had kids say to my children God is not real, yet they believe in Santa. See the irony in this? This is why I call it the dog days of Christmas because when religious mistruths get turned into something political or cultural to judge others or take a cultural stand it just turns into pride and division. This is not what God had intended in spreading the GOOD NEWS.
It’s okay to engage in culture- in fact, God commands it. “Be in the world but not OF the world”. This really does mean to live in the world, engage, celebrate, be jolly, deck the halls but as SpongeBob says, “don’t be a jerk, it’s Christmas time!”. Worship of our Savior was meant to be a lifestyle fully engaged in society yet not fall prey to the deceptions of the world system of this age. As I’ve said in past posts. I let my kids believe in Santa. I don’t see it as I’m lying to them because they come to logical conclusions with "critical thinking" on their own when we drop big sloppy hints that Santa like Vegemite and beer just like their Dad does. I believed in Santa and it “felt” a lot like faith until I saw that Santa had the same handwriting as my Mom. I didn't loose any faith once I had figured out my Dad ate the cookies while Mom stuffed the stockings. I became actually more in tune with my faith. God also is not Santa. I had an imaginary friend that was an elephant, and ask my Mom...that was real to me too. I was 3 years old with an imaginary friend that believed in Santa. I think that's normal for 3 years old.
Christmas can be fun, it’s the anticipation of something good even if it’s just Trader Joe’s egg nog ice cream and it’s also when we can sigh a big relief that longer sunny days are ahead of us in Spring. But as someone who does believe in who Jesus claimed to be, awaiting our Savior's to return is the greatest anticipation we who do believe in who Jesus was can and should have everyday.
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