Christmas and Family

Our family has never celebrated Christmas as the birthday of Jesus. We are not accustomed to reading Luke 2 or decorating with nativity scenes. Even though Christmas began as a religious (and somewhat pagan) holiday, my family has never observed it as such. Married now, my wife and I still do not celebrate Christmas as any sort of religious holiday (though we pray regularly that all who do celebrate the birth of Christ would also see his sinless life, matchless teachings, saving death, triumphant resurrection, and glorious church). We do however love this time of the year. The weather is usually cold, the lights are shining brightly, and generally people are, well, jollier. We are not much into Santa, but my wife loves her Christmas tree, snowmen, snowflakes, and festive decorations. But, above all else, the one thing that makes this time of year special to me is family. So many people are able to get a day or two (or week or two) off for the holidays. This time off allows for much needed family time. As this blog develops, you might notice that I believe in families. I believe that family decay leads to moral and national decay (read “what is currently happening in the US”). Though both my mom and my wife’s parents conveniently live close to each other, they do not live close to all their children. This time of year gives us a great opportunity to spend time renewing and further developing relationships with these wonderful people who we love very much. It is very unfortunate that Christmas has become more of a capitalistic holiday than anything religious or family-oriented. My hope for this Christmas season, as I am enjoying time with my family, is that families (no matter what gifts are under the tree) will nurture and sustain relationships and rekindle proper values. It is this “back to the basics” thinking that families need to be strong, to strengthen the church, and to strengthen our nation.