All I want for Christmas is you....

The Christmas song, All I want for Christmas is you, was just playing on the radio. What a wonderful thought that is...that there could be one special person who would be enough - totally enough - to make our holiday. Voila! Done! Our holiday is complete because that one special person fills our needs, our wants, and satisfies us enough that we need, or want, nothing else.
While the song's sentiment is sweet, it misses the mark because the Reason for the Season is often buried under so much tradition (Heaven forbid we add a new ingredient to Grandma's stuffing recipe), seeking to satisfy or be satisfied, or even the once a year compulsion to be charitable, that we, even while aware the holiday does exist because of the Reason, we let ourselves be sucked into the Wind Tunnel we call Christmas and be swept along in it.
It is important to remind ourselves that Christmas was not instituted by Jesus, so if we wanted it to be a purely secular part of our life, that wouldn't be a mortal sin. Perhaps the sin is to pretend he is front and center when he isn't.
I have always had a difficult time with singing "I surrender all" on command.  Is that possible on a human level? Personally, I don't think so. What if it means we put our cell phones in a drawer, and check our Bibles during the day (or night) like we do our cell phones. Or, if it meant giving up Starbucks or our favorite TV fixes. Or shopping... Or, gossip... Or, that friend who affects us like a pretty pink drink with an umbrella in it.
All I want for Christmas...what do I want for Christmas? In actuality, I want to be gathered with family, a few special friends, and be allowed to be a little sad, remembering back to those who are no longer with us, and when I could say Merry Christmas without wondering if it might offend someone . I want to be aware of my blessings; so aware, in fact, that it humbles me.  I want to give each of those I love a small piece of myself that far outshines any gift; something that is personal, deep, thought provoking, and kind; and I want them to always remember it, because the rest is temporal. And, that shining piece of me that I give away, may it be aglow because of the anointing of the Spirit who indwells me and knows that deep down all I really want is Him.
Jesus, I know even as I say it that in my humanity I will fail, but all I want for Christmas is You. And, because he is who he is, the blessings will come...

Allergic to Peanuts...

I grew up with peanut butter; so did my husband, Ken. To this day, given a preference, Ken would turn down just about anything to enjoy a peanut butter sandwich at lunch time. It is, in many ways, a comfort food for many.

The nut allergies are new. I don't know what alternative there is for a kid with allergies to a white bread sandwich, filled with ooooy goooey peanut butter, and a smear of grape jelly, but I hope they have one. A PB&J stands as a icon in its own right.

Back to the nut allergies. While I am sympathetic, it does make one wonder how those with the allergies (yes, I know it isn't the kids, but their over-zealous parents and attorneys) who have all but made it illegal to bring a PB&J sandwich onto a plane, or into a school? In the early years of flying, smokers were asked to sit at the back of the plane (which was ridiculous because smoke is pretty hard to contain). So, come on, at least section off a few rows of airplane seats or cafeteria tables, and give  peanut lovers a break (or better put - TOLERATE US.)  

This holiday there is a new allergic reaction to Peanuts, only it isn't the kind we eat, but rather the kind Charles Schultz made famous.  An elementary school in Little Rock had the audacity to decide to do "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown" this Christmas. Now, there is irony in this if one really wants to look at it...first of all, the play contains Peanuts, a Christmas message (is it or is it not the season?), and of all things, the title itself shouts from the rooftops "Merry Christmas".

Well, not surprisingly, a few parents were aghast, and although the school gave a generous 'opt out' to anyone who didn't want their kids to be involved, taking their offense to the ACLU.  (I'm allergic to the ACLU), who is taking this to the courts. So much for tolerance....

This is not my hill to die on, but I must say that if people who share my views don't begin to stand up and be counted, refuse to give up their PP&J sandwiches and peanuts on planes, and stand up to the bullies, there will be little left to celebrate. 

Several years ago one of our granddaughters was in a reading contest in her school; it was this time of year. She read her little heart out, won the contest, and the 'prize' was to read any book of her choice to the entire first grade class. She chose a book about Christmas- how fitting!. Her teacher informed her that she couldn't read a book about Christmas, and, instead, had her read a book about Kwanzaa  What a lesson in moving the target that was! Thankfully, it only made her stronger because her parents were wise enough to talk her through it and recreate the lesson positively. 

This exercise has made me hungry for a peanut butter sandwich, but I don't have any Wonder Bread to put it on... But, less I digress, join me in the fight to keep our Christian heritage and traditions alive. After all, we live here, too! Let's cheer on Charlie Brown!

Wishing everyone a very blessed holiday of choice, and to you Christians out there...Merry Christmas to all! 

Searching for Reason in the Season...

Wherever one goes these days, we are truly accosted by "Christmas". In some stores, Santa, and sometimes a nativity scene, appeared on shelves, placed  beside Jack-O-Lanterns and witches, before Halloween. That would not have happened in my childhood. So, in mid-October, merchants begin the push for us  to 'decorate'. My first reaction is to wonder how children can help but be confused, with the secular so conspicuously superimposed over what Christians celebrate as God sending His own son into the world...and why.

Every holiday most of us participate in some mother's outrage at their child being told by someone that Santa is a myth. Now, I must admit that my husband and I did invite Santa to bring toys on Christmas, and protected the fun of his stealthy appearance during the night for our kids, but we took the approach that the kids would figure it out. Ultimately they  'pretended' they believed, thinking that would pacify us and that they would get more presents because of it. And, we went along, trying to squeeze out as much lingering innocence as we could (possibly somewhat tarnished by their manipulation.) But, in spite of the toys and tradition, the centerpiece of our season was irrevocably  Christ. Our outrage would have been for anyone to have dared suggest Christ was a myth!

Now I have grandchildren, and with the hindsight that comes with years, see how the world would attempt to invalidate the message of a Savior who willingly left Heaven, took upon Himself a human body, and walked out every rejection, hardship, disappointment, temptation, and the urges that accompany each of those, in humility and faith - and ultimately embracing every rejection, hardship, disappointment, and urge that we struggle with. Truly, we have a High Priest in the Heavens who hears us when we pray, and groans with us while we try to make sense of those things that are truly, senseless. (Hebrews 4:14 & Romans 8:26) 

But, for the children, it is enough to know how much God loved them. who he sent, and why. To communicate the great love that would give up a child so that He could redeem all children, and that one day, inexplicably, bring us to live with Him (and each other) in Heaven.

Ah, the manger. The first 'king-sized bed'. Our Lord left Heaven, spent nine months under Mary's heart, and was laid in a manger in a stinky stable; it defies the imagination.  Let's keep 'the bling' in perspective this season. The shelves of Made in China plastic angels and Santa's will wait. Take a few moments to ponder the Reason and then go wish a "Merry Christmas" to everyone you see. 

Chapter four in Joseph: the Heart of the Father, gives a bit of insight as to what that first Christmas night was like. It was not a silent night!