Birth of Jesus and Blah, Blah, Blah

The other day I was talking with one of our local business owners and we we discussing our plans for the upcoming Christmas holiday. In the conversation he mentioned that his family no longer exchanges gifts (since they are all adults--is that supposed to matter?), but that they get together to "celebrate the birth of Jesus and blah, blah, blah." He was not giving voice to his inner Scrooge, or dismissive of Christmas, or negative toward Jesus, instead I got the sense that the blah, blah, blah was just that every year is pretty much like the one before.

Is there a materialistic crassness about the holiday being defined more by the deals on Black Friday than by the birth of the Christ? Certainly. But the tension with the commercialism of Christmas is not new. Perhaps a more potent danger that threatens to gut Christmas of its meaning is the perceived blah, blah, blah of Christmas.

Maybe it is that the story is so familiar. Most of us have heard the story since childhood (and we often hear it in Linus' Charlie Brown Christmas voice) and the story hasn't changed over the decades. Same story. Same characters. Same angels. Same Mary. Same Joseph. Same Wise Men. Same shepherds. Same baby Jesus in the manger. Same "Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men."

What if?

What if this were a Christmas season when we each took time to reflect on what if? What if Mary had not believed Gabriel's message or had been unwilling to bear Jesus? What if Joseph has disregarded his angelic visit and had divorced Mary--as he had every right to do under the law at that time. What if Herod's efforts to execute the baby had been successful? What if God the Father had rethought the plan of sending the Son as the redeemer of the world? What if there had been no Christmas? What difference does Christmas make?

I am not necessarily suggesting that we engage in a "It's a Wonderful Life" review of how the world would be different without us. (We generally already spend way too much time thinking about our place in the world--or maybe that is just me.) Instead, I am going to take some time to reflect on how my world might be different had there not been Christmas. How would my world and life be different if God had remained distant and left me to my own devices? What would be different if I had no hope of present or future redemption? What if the only source of life direction was what I could figure out for myself? What if my only power for living was what I could muster within myself?

I am not seeking to simply look at how bleak life might be without Christ and Christmas, but instead to hopefully arrive at a new appreciation for the familiar Christmas event; Christmas story; and Christmas person. Here's to avoiding the blah, blah, blah.

Pressing On,
-Ken