Thanksgiving has come and gone. The stores and radios are now completely geared up for Christmas. I resist the messages that spending will bring my loved ones and me happiness. It won’t.
I stopped listening to my favorite radio station when they began playing holiday songs almost exclusively the day after Halloween. I have switched to listening to my iPod where I get to choose the music. Since I don’t have an iPod dock in my bedroom I listen to a Boston radio station that had the decency to wait until Thanksgiving to begin playing Christmas songs interspersed with light rock.
Two years ago before I owned an iPod I turned on the radio to my favorite station before hopping into the shower. As I enjoyed the warm water raining down on my skin Christmas songs intruded into my consciousness. I groaned. I can’t shut off the radio from the shower. Why do they push Christmas when so many people complain that the season is too commercialized and is starting too early? It must make their advertisers happy. They must believe it boosts sales.
As I dried myself off the disc jockeys talked about a group in Vienna that wants to ban Santa Claus because of the American commercialism associated with him. The disc jockeys dismissed the Vienna group without discussing the merits of their argument. One announcer, a New York Jew married to a Catholic, said she enjoys the family part of Christmas. We agree about that.
“It is better than Hanukah,” she said. “You get the whole family over at once instead of being spread out over eight days.”
The other announcer replies, “It is a religious holiday for some.”
Well, yea, I think. It is the commemoration of Jesus’ birth. Why don’t the disc jockeys do more than pay lip service to that? How did Christmas become a secular, commercial holiday?
I take a slow, deep breath and remind myself that this is Advent, not Christmas. With my daughter’s help I set a table of blue, silver and white with an Advent wreath in the center. Each Sunday during Advent we will light the candles and read from the Bible praising and thanking God before we eat. During my morning prayers I will focus on making myself worthy of the Christ whose coming saved my soul.
During Advent and Christmas, I strive to slow down the pace of my life. This keeps me connected to God. I avoid the malls and limit my spending. I look for ways to be kind and generous to others. While listening to Advent music on my iPod I praise God for this blessed day. The sun shines on a cold earth but I am warm and safe in my home. I praise God for blessing me with two healthy children and a grandson who brings joy to my heart every day. I praise God for pen and ink and the heart and mind to use them. I praise God for all that I am and all that I have. I am blessed a hundred times over. Thanks be to God.