There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions.
--Bill McKibben, Author, Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case For a More Joyful Christmas
During the Christmas Season, many of us will be making lots of food. Last week my kids and I spent half a day making cookies for our church Christmas Musical. (Of course, so did about 50 other people in our church also!) I also spent another half day making chocolate truffles and will soon make our traditional Fish Chowder for Christmas Eve. I like that Christmas is a season where many people make their favorite holiday foods to share with friends and family.
But when we make these treats, aren’t we in fact making much more? We are making traditions and memories and expressions of love and faith and hope. And like making favorite foods, we are, through each decision, making our own Christmas.
I like the idea of Christmas as a make-your-own event. No two Christmases are alike just as no two families are alike. Because of that Christmas is best when it is most personal, most genuine, most thoughtfully a reflection of our values, beliefs and traditions. For my family, this means the following this year:
1. We want to make Christmas a celebration of friendship. Since our families are far away, we have decided to use the Christmas season as a season of simple gatherings with friends. Thanksgiving weekend kicked off the holiday season with our oldest and dearest friends. We are having dinner and lighting the advent candle every Sunday with another family. We went to the Christmas production with our friends from church and are seeing another Christmas play with a dear older couple. We are going to spend a few days skiing with yet another family. We will spend Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner with more friends. These friendships are really what we want to keep “making” as we celebrate God’s friendship of sinners that we see in the Savior.
2. We are making a Christmas where our kids focus more and more on those who have less. Our kids didn’t just make Christmas lists and suggest gifts for each other but gleefully have focused a lot of attention on our Christmas Giving Tree dedication on Sunday at our church. People are bringing gifts to put under a tree at the front of our chancel that will then be distributed in our community.
3. We are making a Christmas that is less about spending money and more about spending time. We set a pretty strict budget for Christmas gifts this year so that we could begin to simplify and focus less on all the stuff. (Which I like, I must admit.) It’s been a hard discipline, but I already feel less stressed about post-holiday credit card bills.
What does it mean for you to “Make your Own?”
Somehow, not only for Christmas, But all the long year through, The joy that you give to others, Is the joy that comes back to you. And the more you spend in blessing, The poor and lonely and sad, The more of your heart's possessing, Returns to you glad.
--John Greenleaf Whittier
Recent Comments