Post Script: Unwrapping Christmas joy

Well, well… still another Christmas season is here and aside from the few cross-patches that have surfaced recently, everything appears bright and glorious for this wonderful holiday. Unwrapping Christmas joy is a rare treat we Christians enjoy to the fullest.

Such a festive scene is the zenith of our American capitalistic system, a sort of Super Bowl for retailers nationwide. After all, when we begin swiping our credit card for Jesus we don’t shy away from buying all we possibly can. Thanksgiving was wonderful but didn’t it disappear in a hurry? Let’s not let that happen to Christmas!

The Bible’s picture of Christ’s birth in poor and dismal circumstances contains basic elements and symbols of our faith: longing and expectation, the joy of new beginnings, the intimacy of shared beliefs, the faithfulness of devoted seekers and followers. The simplicity of the manger scene as a birthplace is engraved in our hearts and minds. Still commercialism reigns and the Advent -Christmas season for many has become one of panic and buy-buy instead of calm and reverence.

Most religious people would prefer to reclaim more simple joy and celebration without all the hype but are unsure how to reclaim an old-fashioned Christmas. The pressure to buy and to party is close to overwhelming: in the malls, on television and other media starting earlier every year. The Thanksgiving turkey is barely off the table until a relative or close friend asks: "What would you like for Christmas?"

That was it. Thanksgiving was over, mugged of its reverence and meaning. No matter your religion, Christmas has become the zenith of our capitalistic system, a sort of Super Bowl for retailers across the nation. Nothing bad about that as long as we don’t spend more than we should.

TV gives us a distorted picture with their suggestion that everyone has a family and all families are alike. Not so! Today families have different forms: divorced parents, same-sex couples with or without children, groups of seniors living together, individuals living together, or simply living alone. Their ways of celebrating must develop from their own experiences.

Some folks have attempted to simplify Christmas by not putting up a Christmas tree, or not bothering to wrap gifts in colorful paper with ribbons. That’s not for the Snyder family, but I’m not saying I would not accept a gift just because it was wrapped in, say, newspaper. I recall a Christmas back in the Great Depression when gifts were scarce and a few simple home-crafted gifts were even wrapped in sheets of old newspapers.

Oh yes, I know times have changed. Even I have changed but I appreciate Christmas gifts, even if they’re simple ones — not in excess but as expressions of love and respect from family and close friends. At times some may think of me as an old Scrooge, but I love Christmas and fully understand why we celebrate the Holy Birth.

In closing, Kathy and I send our best wishes for a wonderful holiday season to all our friends and readers in Daviess County or wherever they may be. God Bless!