The 'W' in Christmas

I received this as an email from my gran earlier today and it definitely edged me to thinking. We miss so much of what we are truly doing and the purpose behind it because of the silliness of life. We're either too busy or too tired or too ... to truly understand the reason for celebrations like Christmas.

I use 'celebration' instead of the word holiday... in fact with my personal connotation, it's hardly a 'holiday' as we've lost sense of that also. When I think of the word I can't seem to get vacation days from work out of my mind. Yet going back to the old and original english hāligdæg the direct translation is 'holy day'.

Why have we taken something holy like Christmas, the assumed day of Christ's birth (assumed cause some think He was born in July but that's a story for a different day) and turned it into flashing lights and tacky bits of tinsel and aluminum trees?

It's cliché in December to rant about the 'reason for the season' but have you actually stopped to think about that in the past 3 weeks? Have you actually sat down and put 2 & 2 together as to why we get time off work to spend with family and friends?

Do it. Think for yourself for a minute and don't just fall into materialism central that is striking the western populace.

~~

Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations - extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six year old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant". I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production and unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation and all the parents that were unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.

So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.

Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as 'Christmas', I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment, songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my song's class rose to sing, 'Christmas Love', I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.

Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the front row - centre stage - held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing 'C is for Christmas' a child would hold up the letter C. Then, 'H is for Happy' - and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, 'Christmas Love'.

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet girl in the front row holding the letter 'M' upside down - totally unaware her letter 'M' appeared as a 'W'. The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea that they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her 'W'.

Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos there was a purpose for our festivities.

For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

'C H R I S T W A S L O V E'

And He still is. Amazed in His presence, humbled by His love.