AN ENCOURAGING WORD written for publication in the Monroe
Journal, December 13, 2012, by Dr. Thomas Lane Butts, Pastor Emeritus, First
United Methodist Church, Monroeville, Alabama
The Christmas season is a cheerful time for most people, but
there are frustrations. Even people who tend to keep life manageable
occasionally encounter some unsettling and frustrating experiences in the
hustle and bustle of the season.
There are people for whom Christmas provokes deep feelings
of sadness. It is a time for remembering, and not all our Christmas memories
are happy. For some it is the first Christmas after a sad experience -- death
of a loved one, a divorce, etc. When you are expected to look and act happy,
but you are sad, it is easy to forget the reason for the season, and pray it
will soon be over.
I could offer tons of conventional advice on how to keep
meaning in the season. I am a professional at offering conventional advice
about many things, but after more than a half-hundred years in an advisory
capacity, I have come to the conclusion that most people already know more
conventional wisdom than they care to use, and that most people for whom
Christmas is an unhappy time can find someone to help them through, if they are
interested in help. But let's face it, there are people who actually enjoy
being unhappy. Their lives and their relationships are defined by their
negative view of life. Don't try to cure their condition. You will end up being
caught up in it. Just avoid them, if you can.
When money is limited and demands (or perceived
demands) are unlimited, it is frustrating. When you feel obligated to
match gift for gift. dinner for dinner, Christmas card for Christmas card --
when you feel compelled to attend and give so many parties, when you focus on
the business of Christmas, it is easy to lose sight of the heart
of Christmas. And if we are not careful the glitter, the gifts, the food, the
parties, and the over-the-top commercialization of Christmas will leave us
physically tired, spiritually empty, emotionally over-spent, and perhaps
financially broke. It is a sad critique of the holiday set aside to honor one
who taught us of love, peace, and kindness.
When you become stressed out humor helps, and there is
always humor to be found as children begin to sense some suspicious
inconsistancies in the Santa Claus myth. One child climbed up on the lap of
Santa Claus at a department store and shared his wish list. Later that day, in
another store, there was Santa again, who when he saw this child said,
"Ho, ho, ho, what would you like for Christmas this year?" With a
puzzled and suspicious look on his face the child admonished Santa, "You
really need to write these things down!" When my grand neice, Callie, was
about 8 years old her parents gave in to her barrage of suspicious questions
and confessed to her the truth about Santa Claus. This bright and perceptive
little girl then asked her parents: "What else have you been lying to me about?"
The weak effort to continue the myth beyond credulity can be humorous. A father
said to his young daughter, "Look at all the presents Santa left for
you!", to which the child replied, "Dad, this looks like your
handwriting". Dad said, "Well, I let him borrow my pen".
Daughter pushed on, "That wouldn't change his handwriting".
"Well" said Dad "we also had a couple of glasses of wine
together" Look for the humor as well as the holiness in Christmas.
There was a mother who was Christmas shopping with her two
young children. After three hours of looking at row after row of toys and
hearing them ask for everything they saw on those shelves, she was feeling the
overwhelming pressure that so many feel during the holiday season. She was
relieved when she finally made it to the elevator.
When the elevator doors opened there was already a crowd in
the car. Determined to get out of the department store as soon as possible, she
pushed her way into the crowded car, dragging her two kids and her packages
with her. When the doors closed she couldn't take it anymore. She blurted out
in an angry voice, "Whoever started this whole Christmas business should
be found, strung up and shot!"
From the back of the elevator a quiet and calm voice
responded, "Don't worry, we have already crucified him".
The rest of the trip down the elevator was so quiet that you
could have heard a pin drop. Hmmmmmm
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