Holiday Thoughts

This season always brings out a big of nostalgia, a bit of disgust, and a bit of dreaming in me. This year is my first really out on my own. While in college I always traveled home for Christmas break; last year I was coming back from my Alaska adventure, and had nothing else to rush off to. I guess now I am finally an adult.

Amanda (my roommate) and I have been given a wreath for the season, and it is our only decoration thus far. I find it a little humorous... it hangs in the middle of a giant blank wall in our living room, sort of in a spotlight from the inset lighting above. Amanda loves it, so I am happy to leave it there.

This past weekend I was in Kenosha with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, and they are completely decorated for the season. They also have a wonderful family tradition of a progressive reading of the Advent story for the month leading up to Christmas, aided by a beautifully illustrated book. This is the first year that all three of the boys (12, 6, and 5 years old) have taken part in reading the story itself. As I sat with them reading it Sunday night, I wished a little bit that I had a family with whom to share that every night, as well.

Growing up is weird. In so many ways. Why is it that "the holidays" always remind me of that more than any other time of year?

The disgust mentioned earlier is closely tied to something my mother blogged about recently. You should check it out: Keeping the Cliche Out of Christmas.

Another aspect, though, more than the cliche of the over-done church musical and the narrow Christian mindset of evangelizing the heck out of the Advent season, is the oft-fought struggle to not be taken over by the crazy consumerism by which Christmas has be defamed. I know I am not alone in this struggle; I think all conscious Christians (and just good people in general) try to maintain perspective as to what is truly important about this time of celebration. But I still question how I can really be focused on what is important (sorry for the North Park line), and share that with others. It's hard to box up sentiment and truth and put it under a tree. Good social graces tell me that I can't write a "I'm not giving presents because I hate that Jesus takes a backseat to Wal-Mart" letter and expect people to take it well. (But I'd like to give it a try.)

So to everyone else out there who finds inner-conflict this time of year, I promise you are not alone. Personally, I vow to take a step back, read Luke 2 often, and just breathe in the joy and truth that is the story of God's world. I invite you to join me.