The season of Christmas brings tangents; parties, food, shopping, family, movies, music, even those favorite Christmas T.V. shows. I think we all get caught up in the hype, I know I do.
There is this quote by Dallas Willard that keeps messing with me: "Familiarity breeds unfamiliarity."
I've done Christmas 25 times and I can probably remember 21-22 of them. Every year the same sort of thing takes place.
Routine.
I love the routine of Christmas; I always have and I hope I always will. I love all the things that come along with Christmas.
But this quote, this quote keeps me thinking.
In thinking, I question my subconscious. Within my familiarity, I wonder how unfamiliar I am with Christmas. I wonder if I'm really celebrating Christmas, or just the tangents that come along with Christmas. I wonder what occupies my mind the most. This messes with me.
The reason we have Christmas tangents is because of one event. We are celebrating the birth of the One who came to redeem and restore the brokenness of the world. We are celebrating Emmanuel (God with us). We are celebrating the waiting and the arrival of the One who was promised throughout the Old Testament of the Bible. This event is the root, the cause, the foundation of all the tangents and routines that accompany Christmas.
What occupies my mind the most?
The tangents: All the stuff that comes with Christmas is on my mind far more than the meaning of Christmas itself.
I don't like this.
It bothers me.
It makes me cringe thinking I'm just another person caught in the net of a commercialized Christmas holiday.
So
May we celebrate this one event. May we recognize our possible unfamiliarity and attempt to bring back the consciousness of the real purpose behind this holiday. May we all remember and reflect upon the point of singularity when it comes to Christmas: the Savior's birth.
1 comment:
Amen!
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