A thought formed over three days:
Christmas is wonderful. As I sit here writing this, my sister is starting to use the fashion drawing kit that she received this morning. My dad has already started reading the book "Rough Stone Rolling." I intend to begin the book on driving I got, although, right now, I'm just working on a pack of nerds.
Christmas day is truly wonderful. The magic of waking up to a stuffed, over-sized 'stocking' filled with goodies. Due to tradition my siblings and I waited impatiently for our parental figures to wake. Then my family opens presents altogether and take turns unwrapping them. We look forward to the traditional waffle breakfast. Christmas day is one that is typically full of pleasure and gifts both giving and receiving. Sometimes, I think we forget what the whole point of the holiday. Sometimes, I think we get lost in the magic of giving and getting.
I sometimes have a hard time imagining how Christ's birth turned into Christmas. I mean... who the heck was like, "I want to remember Christ... so how about this: I'll drag nature inside, I'll put lights outside, we'll tell the children about this old dude who wears red and white, we'll put up stockings made just for Christmas day, oh... and we'll bake a large number of sugary foods."
Now, don't get me wrong. I love the presents I get, I love eating the cookies and other assorted baked goods, and I really do love the Christmas tree. However, what do any of these things really have to do with Christ?
I think that they don't really have any direct relation to Christ. Which is why it's sometimes hard to remember that it's Christmas, not Santamas. However, even though nothing (that I can think of without much thought) is directly related to Christ and his ministry, everything can still remind us of Christ. Putting up the Christmas tree provided my family with a time to be together and to work towards a common goal. The presents remind me of the pleasure that can be felt in any kind of giving. Baking plates of cookies can remind us that Christ's ministry wasn't just about making an individual better, or a family kinder to one another, it was about being nice to everyone.