This is a little different from the norm for here since it’s not about spiritual abuse per se. However, the holidays, in general, are tough for a lot of people. In my case, it was a combination of old, painful memories from childhood and more recent memories from needless blended family stress.
The blended family-related stress did, however, have a major impact simply because of its scope. Unnecessary stress over who bought what for whom, spending too much time preparing food for a crowd of varying size, and wondering which of the visiting kids is going to end up breaking something is something nobody needs. Yet, these types of things happen in too many homes during this time of year because we’ve let what we say we’re celebrating get out of focus.
We don’t know for certain what time of year Jesus was born – traditions and the changing religious landscape of Western Europe gave us the Dec. 25th date, not Scripture. However, for a celebration that’s supposed to honor his birth, we’ve allowed Christmas to become anything BUT Christ-honoring.
Some of the “delights” many of us have to cope with:
- Annoying invited or non-invited guests more interested in an additional meal
- Rude drivers and nowhere to park when you finally arrive
- Snide comments directed at one’s choice of churches
- Little chance to enjoy time off work because of too much time spent preparing
- Radio stations and TV programming that offer little respite from holiday options
For the effort that many Christians put into “Keeping Christ in Christmas” and “Remember the Reason for the Season,” these are mere platitudes for a lot of people who see the holidays as something to endure. Maybe the ones we need to remind about the why of Christmas are ourselves.
One of my biggest takeaways as having formerly had a “difficult” relationship with the holiday season has been making a distinction between the popular trappings that are unfortunately a major stressor for many and the feast of the Nativity that has Jesus as its focus. Elements of both the secular and sacred overlap, of course, but when Jesus is first and foremost, it’s easier to choose the things that draw us closer to him.
Do our holiday celebrations draw us closer to God and to each other? Maybe that’s what we should ask the most this Christmas.
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