Don't do it. You will be tempted but I am telling you for your own good, resist. Do not look at the calender. Do not check your phone. And whatever you do, DO NOT scroll to the bottom of this post and check the date. You just did it didn't you? Sigh...well just don't do the mental math. Oh you did already? So now you have realized the dilemma, the very thing I was trying to spare you from. You have come to the stark realization that Christmas is less than two weeks away. That's right, t-minus 12 days and counting. Now maybe you are one of those "smart" people who have all your presents bought and wrapped in pretty paper with dainty bows on top and are just simply waiting for Christmas to get here. But if you are like me and everyone else your shopping list doesn't seem to get shorter, the parties-to-attend list gets longer and time just simply seems to vanish. I thought I was in the "smart" peoples category but then I realized I have these little people called nieces and nephews who would like something from Uncle Travis but they seem to fail to realize that Uncle Travis doesn't have the financial means to buy each of them a pony. Add to this the unfamiliar custom of trying to buy a meaningful gift for my girlfriend (just a note here that I am certainly not complaining about this) and my mind has been about frazzled. I was scrolling through facebook the other day and noticed a post from a friend of mine. In it she talked about making lots of "x-mas" cookies. I of course had to mention that its Christmas not x-mas which she in good humor explained to me the reasoning for using the different term. She pointed out that Christmas is (rightfully so) about the birth of Christ and His love for us and should be focused on thanking Him for the best gift of all, while she used the term x-mas for all the busyness of the season; making cookies, going to plays, buying presents and the general commercialization of Christmas. My answer to this was that while it is true that so many things can distract us this time of year, we should be doing those "x-mas" things in the true spirit of Christmas, with our hearts and minds constantly mindful of the true Gift we are celebrating. Its easy to lament the commercialization and distortion of what Christmas is really about but I think that is just our human nature to be distracted by things that shouldn't matter in relation to the greatness of the message attached to the season. We are all familiar with the story of the birth of Christ, how there was no room in the inn for Mary and Joseph so they were relegated to the stable. Is this just a coincidence in the story? I don't think anything in the Bible is just a coincidence and I believe it paints a good picture of our own modern misplaced priorities. Did Mary and Joseph tell the inn keeper they were about to deliver the Son of God? Did the inn keeper not believe them or simply not care? Was it a case of the highest bidder gets a room, despite the obvious need of very pregnant woman? Who knows. But we know what that infant boy born that night went on to do for us; to live and die and then rise again to cover our sins. Let us find room in the inn of our hearts this Christmas season for Him, the Baby Jesus, the Savior Jesus Christ, God our Father and the Holy Spirit that dwells in us now.
Merry Christmas, and God bless!
