I have always loved the Christmas season and the magical feeling that always seems to surround it. I remember a Christmas long ago when after the usual Christmas Eve dinner and movie at my grandparents' we drove home through the dark, quiet streets. There was snow on the ground and I remember looking at all the houses we passed with their beautiful Christmas lights. I pictured families asleep in their houses and the joy they would have around their Christmas trees in just a few short hours. Everything was quiet and still as we drove home, and everything felt so peaceful, so magical; I was sure that this was the feeling I would get every Christmas Eve. As I got older that feeling faded, the stresses of the season started to take over. My belief in Santa came to an end and it got to the point where I would wait for that feeling to hit me on Christmas Eve and it would not. Don't get me wrong, the anticipation would remain. I have had difficulty sleeping on Christmas Eve my entire life. Even as a married woman, I have a hard time sleeping past 4 or 5am on Christmas morning. (Something tells me this may change this year, however, since sleep is such a commodity nowadays.) However, I've noticed in the last year or two that my magical feeling of Christmas is starting to return and I think I am finally understanding why: my attitude and my focus is changing.
I've discovered that the more I focus on the Savior and the gifts I'm giving rather than receiving, the more that magical, unearthly feeling returns. If I think more about family and the joy of just spending time together, then other things come into focus as well and I find myself with fewer regrets and greater appreciation. I have been thinking recently about a lesson I had in church back in Rootstown years ago about the spirit of the season. The lady who was teaching spoke about keeping Christ in Christmas, and she made a point that has stuck with me for all these years. She started talking about how people are always looking for shortcuts, even in small things. In this day and age of text messaging and e-mail, shorthand is becoming more common and accepted. Most people see something like "lol txt me l8r 2day b4 u leave" and they know exactly what it means, whereas years ago that same person might have said "huh?" Around this time of the year, "X-mas" becomes a phrase people see all the time. This teacher said that this small, seemingly innocent shorthand word is the first step in taking Christ out of Christmas. Despite the convenience of the quick spelling, I have stopped using the phrase "X-mas" because of this lesson. Even though I know it doesn't really mean that I have forgotten Christ or anything, I use it as a personal reminder to keep Christ in Christmas. Whenever I write or type the word "Christmas" I think about the fact that by not using the shorthand, I am writing the name of our Savior and it reminds me to refocus on what this season is all about. I don't want to even start down a path where my Christmas is not focusing on Christ.
As much as I try not to, every year I get swept up in the commercialism of Christmas. I worry myself to death about the gifts I am giving to family and friends. I worry about the cost of everything, if I'm coming across too cheap, if I'm doing enough, if skipping over this person or that person is worth it in the end. These last 2 years I have worried about holiday-time travel and all that entails. I worry about decorating for Christmas and feel guilty for not having enough time or energy to hang lights. It is easy for my focus to get hazy and to get lost in the things that really don't matter in the end.
This year I have been trying extra hard to remember the true meaning of Christmas. I've found this a bit easier having so recently been blessed by the birth of our son. I watched "The Nativity" and felt a closer kinship to Mary because I better understood the love a mother has for her child. As I thought of my own experiences with childbirth, I realized how difficult it must have been for her to go through what she did, without all the conveniences of modern medicine that I was able to take advantage of. I think of how my life has changed in just the few short weeks since Nathan was born; how my perspective has changed. My priorities have been rearranged and I've found myself really taking the time to consider what is truly important. All of a sudden the money that is spent is not as important as the time and thought invested. Finding a way to get to the temple is more difficult but just as important to me if not more so. Even with a host of extra legitimate excuses, it means more to me that my son grow up seeing David and I put the temple as a priority than that he sees us hiring a babysitter a few times less often in order to stay home with him. I am more grateful for a warm house and a reliable vehicle because I suddenly have someone else to keep warm and safe. My own needs and desires are less important.
I think, in the end, that magical feeling I remember from all those years ago was more than just childhood excitement and a belief in Santa Claus; it was the spirit whispering peace and understanding to the heart of an innocent child. As an adult, if I can keep Christ as the center of Christmas and remember the true reason we celebrate this time of year, that is when the spirit is able to return to my heart and restore that magical feeling that should accompany every Christmas. I pray that everyone this year can stop for just a minute during all the hustle and bustle and just ponder about the Savior, his birth, and what that meant to the world. Listen to Christmas hymns, dim the lights and sit quietly by the Nativity or lighted Christmas tree, and let the spirit whisper to you the peace and love that defines the nature of Jesus Christ. Walk outside or look out the window on a quiet evening when the snow is falling and appreciate the stillness. The specific traditions and gifts are not really important. What is important is that we remember the Savior and try to follow His example. However we decide to follow that example is a very personal thing; we have to decide what it means to us to remember Christ and then act accordingly. May we all be able to find some way to show the Lord that He is not forgotten this season.
Merry Christmas!
3 comments:
While I'm not a fan of "X-Mas" I did learn that it's not just shorthand or some secular conspiracy to remove Christ from Christmas, but that "X" (Greek letter chi) has long been an acceptable abbreviation for Christ in Christianity. Using shortened names for deity has been a practice since Old Testament times (to avoid saying it too often or in vain), hence "LORD" appearing so many times in the OT instead of the actual name or abbreviation of the name. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas very interesting!
That is interesting. I'm curious if people who do use "x-mas" know this because it seems most people who do use it because it's quicker to write. However, despite its origins, it does quite literally take Christ out of Christmas. :)
It's shorter, but it more than likely evolved out of respect for the name rather than any secular notion to remove "Christ". Since the X literally stands for Christ (via Greek), it's not really taking it out, it's shortening...so, while I don't use "Xmas" myself, I don't consider it anti-Christ or awful to use it now that I know its origins. Most people do not know the origins of Xmas and assume it's some secular attack on Christianity that is relatively recent.
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