Sunday, December 25, 2011

Rockin' around the manger scene, have a happy holiday.

So I had this "conversation" with some family members at a Christmas party about why I don't put up Christmas decorations. They found it absurd that I don't join in and "celebrate" the "holiday" by decorating (I am going to be using a lot of quotation marks to imply sarcasm). I just don't get it......this is an American holiday tradition and it has nothing to do with the actual celebration itself. We are celebrating the birth of Jesus, our Savior. Not evergreen trees. Not strings of lights. How do these things get people in "the Christmas spirit".....whatever the heck that is. Is it feeling good about yourself? Is it the sense of accomplishment? Is it being in a different surrounding?.......like I said, I do not get it.

I would say that doing something that Jesus would do should be the thing that "gets you in the Christmas Spirit". If Jesus were around today would he be wasting time and resources on a Christmas tree?.....No!.....no way!....he would probably say that it's foolish. I would rather take the money and time that would go into the decorating and use it wisely......like give it to the poor.....or help a family that's in need......or whatever, just something other than that.

Am I being overly dramatic.....maybe a little.
Am I being a little mean.....maybe.
Am I being sarcastic.....definitely......But my point is this: I shouldn't be labeled as weird or different or a scrooge just because I don't like decorating. That's not fair to me.

An argument for another time: Why do we buy presents for ourselfs and our family's......it's not our birthday celebration. Jesus said in the Bible: Whatever you do for the poor, you do for me.....that sounds like a good birthday present to me.

1 comment:

  1. Tom, there's nothing wrong with decorating and there is nothing wrong with not doing it. If you decorate as a way to remind you of the birth of Jesus, great. If you don't do that (I didn't this year), then you worship in another way. I happen to enjoy the lights and stuff. Despite all of this, I've sometimes found that people in my family who are so against Christmas decorations are among the most stingy. Perhaps some of the people in your family have had these negative among others and refuse to see your good intentions because you are in their family. Whatever the case may be, do what you feel is right and don't bother explaining details. That's what I'd do.

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