Woven and Spun

I’m tired of some Christians mentality toward Christmas. And, of course, I don’t mean all Christians or all mentalities – let me clarify. Specifically, I am tired of the mentality that leads to the conclusion that giving gifts is bad, greedy, wasteful, or materialistic. I hear a lot of people reciting “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” and “Christmas is too commercialized” – and I don’t disagree with these statements, but I do disagree when it leads Christians to balk and steer away from exchanging presents to avoid the appearance of being worldly. I want a gift this year, and not just any gift…I want a big box, elaborately wrapped sitting under the tree two weeks in advance with my name on it! I know that list of “I wants” makes me sound like a selfish little child, but I’m really not, and I can explain why…

When I was a kid, the anticipation of Christmas was the most exciting thing in the world to me. I much preferred the few weeks before to the actual date of December 25th. Once the day finally arrived and all the presents were unwrapped and the beautifully decorated room was disheveled, I was full of disappointment – the Christmas Day let down. And many people would use that scenario as proof for the argument that gifts just cause the disappointment – if I had been focused on the REAL reason for the season then I would not have experienced that sadness. I disagree.

You see, I’ve been studying the Advent season a bit lately, and from what I’ve found, the whole process of celebrating Christmas and giving gifts echoes the glorious mystery of this season. One of the articles I read said that “Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing.” When you exchange gifts, there is the time of preparation and anticipation, and for me there is always that continued longing after the gift is open. The prayer of the Advent season used to be “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel” – the Jews were yearning for the long promised Messiah. There was actually fasting and lamenting at Advent time rather than the celebration that takes place today. Then Jesus was born and the world was able to rejoice at his birth. But, even though the Savior of the world finally arrived, we are still here while He sits in Heaven. Advent still has an element of longing and sorrow in it because we aren’t “home” yet.

I want my kids to get gifts. I want them to experience the excitement of anticipation, I want them to experience the work of preparation, and I want them to experience the Christmas Day let down – to know that the gifts are wonderful and the gift of Christ, being the best one, is available to them here and now, and I want them to know that the best is yet to come – I want them to know that longing.

…I’ve read and reread this post a hundred times, trying to figure out if it says what I really mean. I think it does, but maybe the reality is that I am just selfish and this whole idea is just a stretch to mask it. Forgive me if that’s true – and let me know if it does sound that way.