Most people know that I am a huge fan of Christmas! I mean who doesn’t love a holiday with presents, food, family reunions, road trips and cricket?
Now I’m a dad with my own little family, we have our own traditions that help build the excitement for Christmas each year. From Christmas light looking and movie marathons, to a Christmas Eve feast and seeing how excited my kids are to open their stockings on Christmas morning; it all adds to the fun!
This week we entered December, and that means that even the most cynical people start doing Christmas things. We start much earlier – our tree goes up October 25, and we start playing Christmas music in our house from that day. Two whole months of building up to Christmas is awesome!
There are plenty of people who don’t like my attitude to Christmas, and I think that’s really sad. There will be people reading this now and judging me for everything I’ve said and for not mentioning the real reason for celebrating – the birth of Jesus.
They will say that I am too focused on the materialistic trappings of Christmas; that I’m celebrating the wrong things.
But let me offer you a little perspective.
There are many, many people – just like me – who don’t grow up in Christian households, and Christmas is the first time they learn about Jesus.
Through Christmas songs, movies, books and TV shows I learned about the birth of Jesus, and even got a bit of an idea of who Jesus is. They made me curious to learn more about this little baby who is celebrated by the whole world!
Christmas introduced me to the joys of giving to others without expecting anything in return. It taught me to think about others and what they might like to receive.
Christmas reinforced the importance of family. Travelling hours every year to spend time with family is something I still remember fondly.
Without Christmas, I may never have been open to the idea of being Christian and working at this school. I may never have been open to living my life in a way I can be proud of every day.
And that’s why I love Christmas so much – the Christian side, and the “worldly” side. Without them my life would not be what it is today.
Greg
