I haven’t written much lately for a variety of what I
increasingly see as very good reasons.
But I have been in the habit of writing something at Christmas, usually
a somewhat light-hearted attack on the way our silly society celebrates the
birthday of our Savior. In order to
continue that tradition while not wasting time on things few people read, here
are some excerpts from a letter I enclose along with my contribution to one of
my favorite charities, which shall remain nameless. There’s nothing light-hearted about this
one, but the message is essentially the same as it has always been at Christmas
time.
God bless you all at Christmas time and always.
Christmas is upon
us. We are supposed to be joyous and
happy at this time, as if on demand we could make ourselves joyful and
happy. But for me, and those like me,
Christmas gets more depressing every year.
We continue to insist on celebrating the birth of our Savior with a
continuous wanton display of hedonism, materialism, anxiety, and debauchery. We teach our kids to be greedy and try to
imbue in them the idea that happiness is measured by the volume and value of
the things that one has “acquired.” In short, we celebrate Jesus’s birthday by
doing everything He, as a loving God and Brother, advised us not to do. It is as if we take the occasion of our
Savior’s birthday to repeatedly strike Him in the face, much like His torturers
did just before the crucified Him. Are
we crucifying Jesus by the way we celebrate His birthday?
So I find it difficult
to be jolly during the Christmas season and I fervently wish that we would stop
calling it Christmas if we insist on doing such un-Christlike things during the
“Christmas” season. Call it the
“holiday season,” whatever that means, or call it what society wants; just
don’t call it Christmas because to do so is beyond sacrilegious.
Tough stuff? You bet.
But that’s the way I feel.
Yes, at this time of
year, people like you and I try to celebrate both Jesus’s historical arrival to
save us and, more importantly, to prepare for His coming into our hearts. But shouldn’t we be doing the latter all the
time? Shouldn’t Christmas be always,
not just around December 25? Our Savior
loves us…all the time. He came to die
for our sins, to enlighten the world, and to impart His Father’s message. We should thank Him, and live that message
all the time.
