A Few Random Christmastime Thoughts

I love Christmas, and this year is going to be especially fun. I don’t know why it’s any different. Maybe it’s because we’re finally settled into our new house, or maybe because we’re buying presents, but we’re not really going overboard so much this year.

Although, if you’ll let me digress a minute, one of my all-time favorite Christmases was the first one with Jodi as my wife. We went absolutely crazy, and way way overspent on each other. The funny thing, though, is that what I remember about that Christmas was not any particular regret about spending too much money, or how hard it was to pay off (and it was hard), but rather how much fun I had picking out her presents, and how wonderful her presents to me were. I can still remember what most of them were. I had a ring custom made for her, she bought me tickets to see Jethro Tull… It was a great Christmas. We had our tree, our first tree as a married couple, up and lit before Halloween. It was a blast.

But I digress.

One of the things I think about as I’m listening to Christmas Carols and making Wassail, is just how connected many of our Christian celebrations are. We give thanks, we give gifts. But ultimately, none of that would make any difference if it weren’t for Easter. If Jesus hadn’t suffered in Gethsemane, bearing my sins, weaknesses, and sorrows, then we would have no reason to celebrate his birth. Ultimately, with no way to bridge the gap back to God, the Father, there would be no reason to be thankful, no reason to celebrate.

MRKH
Mark Hansen
http://markhansenmusic.com