Many years ago on December 11th, I gave birth to my youngest daughter. When she was small, in order to keep her birthday from being lost in the preparations for Christmas, we started a tradition. I would put the Christmas tree up on the tenth of December, decorate it with balloons and call it the birthday tree. After her birthday, my daughter was allowed to pop all the balloons, then we would decorate for Christmas. She says that her birthday was more special than all of her friends’, as she was the only one who had a birthday tree.
Since our children have grown up and left home, we don’t do the birthday tree anymore. In fact, this year our house looked like a warehouse for so long, with my coming and going to shows, meetings, and other business commitments, that it was only yesterday I even got the tree and stood it up. Decorations to follow.
New traditions have supplanted the old ones as our family has grown and changed. This year we will again be hosting our Christmas Eve buffet for the family, then having Christmas dinner at my sister’s home. These family traditions are pleasant and comforting, not to mention that they require less planning than creating something new each year. I am sure that over the years your family has also developed traditions that make Christmas time special for you.
As lovely as our traditions are, let us also remember the other meaning of Christmas. Thankfully, contrary to what the politically-correct would have us believe, Christmas is more than just a holiday. It is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is also a reminder of God’s good will toward us. With the virgin birth came the gift Peace on Earth in the midst of and in spite of strife and war. The peace that Jesus brings is peace that passes and supercedes our understanding. We can know it in the most unlikely of circumstances.
Christmas means glad tidings of great joy unto all people. What are those tidings? God loves us. From the inky dark of that silent night a young Mary brought forth God’s only son. And whether we regard him with offence, indifference, wonder, or love, we must regard him. His own gift to the world was and still is the offer of complete reconciliation with God. In spite of our blunders, mistakes, or offences against God and others, we can become like new again. Only Jesus accomplishes that for us.
This Christmas, my wish is that you enjoy all the sparkling lights, the glittering tree standing amidst a mound of beautifully-wrapped gifts, the warm get-togethers with friends, the vacation from work, and your family traditions. Please also remember the silent, holy night when a savior was born who changed the world, and continues to this day to change lives one by one by one.
Merry Christmas to all,
Wendy
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