Deck them Halls

And it's finally here! That time of year where you read a lot about how Christmas is sickeningly materialistic and can we just say enough already? I don't disagree. It can get messy. I feel a little knot in my stomach when I watch my child open gift after gift, barely taking time to appreciate the gifts as they pass before him. I know his personality and his proclivities. I know gifts are his "love language" but also his achilles heel. I know that we have to find a golden mean for him.  I don't want Christmas to be overstimulating. I don't want it to be like my child is sitting before 10 plates of food and we are shoving the food all over him, in his mouth, in his lap, on his clothes. There is a "too much" category in my opinion, when it comes to gifts and when it comes to food.

At the same time, my goal is not to make Christmas about deprivation in order to teach my child about gratitude.  Seriously, does that ever really work? The crux of Christmas is the Gospel. The gospel doesn't begin and end with deprivation (go back to Genesis 1. In the beginning GOD.)

People like to talk about the lowly baby Jesus in the manger and how he came to save the needy. So in turn, we should make Christmas as humble an occasion as possible, giving as few gifts as we can to our kids and giving instead to the poor. We should stop with all the fa-la-la and fluff and get on with the real spiritual business of Christmas.

But what about baby Jesus? Wasn't he flesh and blood? Wasn't he the ultimate picture of something material and pure? He was made of matter. He was a baby! He was God as a baby!
Didn't he come eating and drinking? And why was coming in the first place?

To LAVISH the world and give HIMSELF, He who was the ONLY son of God, and to give us life ABUNDANTLY. He came that we would have LIFE (no more eternal death!) and have it more ABUNDANTLY!!

So you know, I don't feel the false dichotomy anymore. I don't feel like I have to choose between giving my kids gifts and watching their faces light up or giving to the poor. I don't feel like I have to choose between giving my kids some fruit for Christmas or spoiling them rotten. I don't feel like I have to scorn every wintry wonderland and every face of Santa because how dare these things try to obscure the glory of Christmas! These are all false dichotomies. Christmas is about the poor and the needy. Christmas is about giving. Christmas is about a feast and about abundance and joy. Christmas is ultimately about JESUS, and that's why Christmas doesn't have to be so boxed in.

I think we all have to work it out within our own families. We know our kids, we know the temperature of our home, we pray for discernment, we think things through. Maybe in some families it does mean no gifts one year or just one gift. I don't know. But to start suggesting specific ways that everyone should cut back on all the Christmas glee? I just don't know if I can get on board.

Now, I'll admit, you won't catch me shopping on Thanksgiving day. Or the day after for the matter (agoraphobia, my friends). And we also don't do Santa around here. It doesn't take away any sparkle from our Christmas either. But we don't make Christmas about Santa-hating either. He's not scary. He's not threatening. He's like a Disney princess, except he's based on an actual person in history. But the kids know that mom and dad bought the gifts. I don't much care what anyone else does with Santa, that is just what we do around here.

These are all just some ideas though. Ignore this whole post if you think differently. These are not golden rules or anything.

Til next time.