"All I Want For Christmas"

Christmas is coming but please don’t tell me how many shopping days are left until Christmas. I love giving gifts. I even love taking time and energy to carefully plan out gifts for my friends and family. I feel blessed to be able to show people how much I love and appreciate them. I just wish that the coming month would entail more than that search. The days leading to Christmas will be consumed with the act of preparation. Our homes, schools, and places of work will be a whirlwind of activity as we decorate, cook, and shop. We will plan special liturgies in the Church and make a concerted effort to reach out to those who may only come to worship once or twice a year in the hopes that they will become part of our faith communities. These are all good things but I confess that I’m already tired. 

"Christmas in the life of the Church is a unique festival. While we are celebrating the birth of Christ, the moment when the Word of God, the Second person of the Trinity came down from heaven and became flesh and blood like us in all things but sin, we are also focused on when Christ will come again."

Christmas in the life of the Church is a unique festival. While we are celebrating the birth of Christ, the moment when the Word of God, the Second person of the Trinity came down from heaven and became flesh and blood like us in all things but sin, we are also focused on when Christ will come again. And it’s here where I find that our preparations are often sorely lacking. It is easier to celebrate the Jesus who comes as the defenseless child in need of Mary and Joseph’s love and protection than to celebrate the savior who will come to judge the world. I don’t see a lot of Christmas pageants starring Jesus riding a pale horse, sword in hand, acting out the Revelation to John. 

I think that our secular preparation for the infant Jesus closely resembles our preparation for the birth of our children. We take an inventory of all the things a baby needs, all the things we don’t have, and begin to shop accordingly. We plan for the baby shower, walking around our favorite department or big box stores with a pricing gun registering for the perfect stroller, the perfect crib, and that cute “I’m dad’s Xmas gift” onesie. Looking back, I am glad that we took the time to prepare our home to receive this bundle of joy, but I wish I had taken more time to prepare my mind, my heart, and my soul. Becoming a parent is a life-changing experience fraught with anxiety, anticipation, joy, and fear of the unknown. 

What would it have looked like to do more than just read the occasional baby book? What if our time of preparation had included prayer and spiritual reflection? We might reflect on what it means to live not just for ourselves, not just for each other but now for this child. We might pray on how this child is a new image of God in our home that came from the covenant we formed when we took our vows to love, honor, and cherish one another. We would ask God for strength in the days, weeks, months, and years to come as we struggled against exhaustion, tight budgets, and frayed nerves. 

The coming of a child is a blessing. But the coming of a child also turns our lives upside down. Preparation during this Advent season needs to be more than the act of being consumed by consumerism. It needs to be more than the act of hanging lights and writing cards (though we should do those acts as they bring joy). Preparation needs to include a time of rest for our weary souls. This may mean that we do less with more meaning. It may mean that we allow for things to be imperfect but full of joy and sincerity. But most of all it means understanding that Christ has already come and set us free. The festival of Christmas isn’t just about preparing to commemorate the first coming of our savior into the world. It’s about taking the time to celebrate that he has already come, already defeated sin and death, and has already made us children of God. It would still be Christmas without a single gift or twinkling light. For many people, that is the only Christmas they will know this year. 

My prayer for all of us who serve is that we will give ourselves the gift of time to sit and marvel at the miracle that has already taken place so that our faith is strengthened with the knowledge that Jesus is truly with us.