Christmas
Is Christmas about joy or stress? Unfortunately for many people it’s about stress. They must do this and they must do that, and to make it worse; they feel they must buy things whether they can afford it or not.
Our culture says you must bring a tree into your home and decorate it. The last twenty years I questioned this.
God created us, and gave us life. God wanted us to live with Him and for Him. Again life. But mankind did wrong and blew it. But God loved us so much that He sent His Son to be born (again life) so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life . Again life! So to celebrate all this life, why are we suppose to bring big dead plants into our homes? Please understand, I am not against Christmas Trees. I am only questioning some of the traditions.
Another tradition I question is all this buying and selling and going into debt. Now I’m not against buying and selling and giving gifts. But come on, even the Pink Panther gets caught up in it.
OK I’ll be serious for a little bit. To be honest Christmas is very difficult for some people. Some people may be poor and can’t afford gifts for their kids. Some are part of a very large family, with lots of people to buy gifts for. On her side and your side. And what do you get them. What if Uncle Hank has everything and needs nothing? Uncle Hank even says he doesn’t need anything. But you still feel obligated to get something because the culture says if you don’t, then you’re a cheap-skate and a scrooge.
So we stress out getting trying to figure out what to get everybody, then rush home to wrap it very quickly so we can them rush off to mail it to Aunt Sally or who ever. Will they get the gift in time?
Several years ago my Dad in his wisdom said that instead of the stress of buying gifts for each other; we should use the money we would spend and give it to a charity of our own choice. That removed so much stress; it’s great. Of course we still get gifts for the kids.
What about Santa Clause and his reindeer friends? This has been part of our culture for generations. As far as I know, this Santa Clause has little to do with what Christmas is really about. I like what someone told me a long time ago. He said that in the beginning he and his wife told their kids there was no Santa Clause and that it’s all pretend. They did tell their kids about St. Nicholas also told them that Christmas is really about celebrating the birth of our savior Jesus. It’s OK to pretend and have fun, just remember it’s all about Jesus.
So they put up a Christmas tree and all that other stuff, and the kids have fun sitting on Santa’s lap; but they still know the truth.
Christmas was never meant to be about stress but about life. A verse that I have quoted many times in the past is John 3:16 For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. This Son named Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The same Bethlehem that is in Israel today.
Here is a little song with a Norwegian accent. I’m glad it has the words. I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas
This next song is also in a Norwegian accent. Unfortunately I couldn’t find one with the words. It’s hard to understand, but there’s enough movement that I hope many deaf and hard hearing people will enjoy it. Walking In My Winter Underwear
This last song is not silly a song, but instead is about Jesus Himself. Many people like this song. I hope you will too. Mary Did You Know
My Thoughts 