Ok it's December 1st, time to begin unleashing the Christmas revelry. Unfriend me now while there's still time :)
Not trying to be controversial, and I realize that speaking your mind is also a 2-edged sword...the tongue is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison yada yada yada...
First up; I have to confess, the cliche phrase "Keep Christ in Christmas" makes me want to vomit. I don't know much, but I'm pretty sure that the real, true "Christ" will not be "kept" in Christmas or in any other day. Chase him down, and you'll likely discover he expects not to be "kept", but to be distributed, widely on the other 364 days as well. As a matter of fact, he might just chase you down, and me too. What if folk followed the many of Jesus' real admonitions and instructions throughout the year with the same zeal with which they unleash the overtly annoying "It's not Happy Holidays, It's Merry Christmas" drivel. (yuck!). Any day off is a Happy Holiday in my book, but I digress...Here's three of his instructions to get ya going:
1. "Do unto others..."
2. "Come unto me, and I will give you rest".
3. "Feed my sheep".
None of this seems too unreasonable so far does it? Charles Dickens summed it up much better than I ever could with the scolding of Ebeneezer Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas present: "So it is true of the Child born in Bethlehem. He does not live in men's hearts one day of the year, but in all days of the year. You have chosen not to seek Him in your heart. Therefore, you will come with me and seek Him in the hearts of men of good will."
We shouldn't wait for a Ghost to shock us into accepting the gift of Christ...it probably won't happen...Food for thought ? Oh yeah, and I hope you have a Merry Christmas, &/or a Happy Holidays...
